Ideal White
by Peinx7
Summary: He was a tool, a weapon. His only purpose was to follow orders, beyond that he knew nothing. Now, in this world of fantasy and ash, he strives for a new one, as skeletons of his past comes back to haunt him. RPG Elements. AU Naruto.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Fic is inspired by Oregobu and Through the Eyes of. This'll be an AU Naruto, where he was trained by Danzo as a child. Will also have elements of an AU Hinata.**

 **I may edit chapters on occasion. I'll update the date here when I do.**

 **Edited: 10/18/18**

 **Elements of other RPG Anime/Games may appear. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

An eternal void of nothingness. This is punishment… my punishment.

 _"…Narut…"_

Darkness everywhere, nothing but an endless sea of abyss. It's been how long? Days? Months? Years? — I've no concept of time.

 _"…Naruto-sen..."_

My hands curl into a ball, her pendant clasped tight — A token baptized in her blood. Like it was mocking me, reminding me that I failed.

 _"…Naruto-senpai…"_

I just don't understand. The sheer concept of it escapes me. What did you see in me? Why value my life over yours?

 _"Live…Naruto-senpai...live" ice cold hands touched his cheek, she gave him a smile, blood running through the corners of her mouth._

It hurts. I clenched my teeth, closing my eyes.

 _Hinata._

You made a mistake, wasting your life for a tool. A tool without a purpose.

 _"Do you have any idea what you've done?!"_

I see a light, multiple rays piercing through the veil of darkness. Expanding. Growing. The shadows vanish.

 _"What I should've done a long time ago. Afterall…"_

I see nothing but light.

 _"I learned from the best, taichou."_

Then I knew no more.

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open and saw that it was dark. A different kind of dark. It wasn't pitch black, there were some sources of light. Candles above him, affixed to the wall. Small ones from the looks of it.

 _"Where am I?"_

It felt cramped. Cramped enough that he could touch the ceiling with his fingertips. He grabbed at his throat, taking huge gulps of air. It was hard to breathe.

He ran a quick diagnosis jutsu on his body. His brows furrowed a second later. Testing a theory, he slapped his hands together forming a hand seal.

 _"What…? Why can't I…?"_

He still had chakra. It was there, he knew it. He could _feel_ it and yet he couldn't reach it. His brows scrunched together. What is this? There's a wall blocking access, like he was trying to breach a dam with a straw. Futile.

Then he sensed the presence of others nearby.

 _Humans?_

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he heard someone ask. A female.

"Yeah" a man this time.

He heard a few others reply mostly with "yeahs" or "I'm here."

A creaking noise screeched through the air like that of a gate opening, and light came from the gap. There it was, the exit. An old iron grate.

A man with brown hair, this one well-built, grabbed the iron bars and pulled it inwards. It creaked open and the man went outside.

He followed soon after.

* * *

The dimly lit sky spread out as far as the eye could see. It was twilight. The smell of wild grass hit his senses. Its wild springtime scent tickling his nostrils, almost like Konoha. From here, he observed a luscious grass field as wide and as far as the eye could see.

From far away, he saw a town encompassed by two rocky hills on both sides. It had a huge gate with a dirt path leading towards it.

Behind him is a tower of some sorts. It stood at about twelve feet and was made from well-polished concrete.

"What the hell?!"

The sudden scream caught his attention. He turned to the voice, it was the lanky guy who screamed. There were a few others behind him, huddled together. Looking at him with wide eyes.

Tilting his head in confusion, a nearby puddle reflected his image back to him.

 _'Oh.'_

He was a mess. His ANBU flak-jacket was ruined, missing half of its right side. Of the three pouches he had, only one remained functional. His ANBU mask looked salvageable at least. His apprentice's necklace was secured firmly in his hand, the golden cable spooled in between his fingers.

His hair was dyed red with blood, along with the rest of his attire. His wild whisker marks and dull blue orbs that resembled that of a dead-fish didn't help with his image.

For several moments, nothing was heard, nobody moved, only silence pervaded. The group stood still staring at him in fear, not even daring to breathe.

...

"...W-what the i-is that.. is that...? B-blood?! Blood?! S-stay back!" The man took a step back, almost tripping as he stumbled on his own feet.

A spike of pain burst forth from his head as a particular memory resurfaced through his mind.

 _"M-monster, leave us alone, you freak!"_

He held his head, trying to stifle the dull throbbing pain. He resisted the urge to scowl as he slowly willed the pain to go away.

The man's question remained unanswered. That was fine, he didn't know how to reply to it anyway. Observing the group, a frown formed on his face. He was causing scene, he needed to go. Turning around he was just about to leap, but froze when he caught sight of something or rather, someone.

There in the middle of the group stood an exceptionally beautiful young woman with hair the same shade and color as Hinata's. It's unmistakable. That luscious dark-blue hair bordering indigo, the color of the evening sky.

 _"...care taichou..."_

His throat burned all of a sudden, it was like there was something crawling inside his chest. It was a tight feeling, squeezing him, threatening to crush him.

Their eyes meet and she recoiled back.

"I-"

He froze midway. He wanted to say something, it seemed like the right thing to do. But he had nothing, he didn't the right words to say. So instead, he schooled his features, setting his mouth down to a thin line.

The tension that followed was almost palpable. So, it was a godsend to everyone when it was broken by the sound of someone singing something along the lines of "Charararararahn, chararararahn."

A young woman appeared from behind the tower. She was a bundle of joy with a positively beaming smile on her face. Her twin-pigtails moved about as she pranced around with a light spring on her step.

"Hiya! How's everyone doing today? I hope you're all feeling fiiine. Welcome to Grimgar! I'm your cute guide, Hiyomuu-" the newcomer was midway into giving a peace sign when her eyes caught sight of the blood-spattered shinobi.

" _Oooh~_ that's new," curiosity marred her voice as she made her way toward him with dainty steps.

She placed an index finger to her chin, tilting her head a bit, her wide puppy-like eyes looking at him curiously.

...

"Meh," She dismissed him with a shrug as if to say, "not my problem," twirled around, and continued with a singsong voice. "As I was saying, my name is Hiyomu and I'll be your guide for today~!"

"Oi lady, what's the meaning of this, huh?!" Lanky jabbed a finger at her, "Where are we?!" he snarled, attempting to grab her by the collar of her shirt.

"Eek!" Hiyomu shrunk back, backing away a few steps and shielding her face with her hands, seconds later she opened her fingers allowing her eyes to poke through. "Teehee~ You're so scary!" she giggled and blew a raspberry at him

"Don't get mad! Hiyomu means good! Just smile, smile, smile! Okay?!" she pushed her index fingers on each side of her cheek, giving him a megawatt smile, "All will be explained by my superior! For now, just follow after _me~_ Okay? _Okay~_?" she ended with a wink, tilting her head a bit.

Lanky kept his narrowed eyes at her, but conceded with a stiff nod.

"Alrightyyyyy~!" Hiyomu grinned and placed her hands on her hips, "I'm gonna do my job now, yosh!" She pointed her finger ahead and exclaimed, "Onwards!"

* * *

 _Grimgar_

Red. The moon was red. It looked so unusual, unnatural. The crimson light gave off an eerie feeling like it was an omen for a disaster prowling around the corner, a trap waiting to be sprung.

Naruto slapped his hands together, forming a seal, concentrating - still nothing. He turned his eyes to the form of the blue-haired female or rather, her raven-blue tresses.

He couldn't really say why the color of her hair called to him. Hinata's dead. He held her as her life drained away, as her pulse left her body - as she breathed her last.

 _"It's c-cold… taichou."_

He shook his head, fists clenched together.

What's wrong with him? It felt like there's something _scraping_ inside of his chest just wanting to _burst_ out. Is this grief if so, how do you stop it? — It didn't make sense. It wasn't the first time he's had comrades die for him, what made her so different? Isn't death a normal part of life? Death comes to everyone. He knew that but it didn't help. He can't stop thinking about her.

Rubbing the aching migraine away. He breathed out a sigh, affixing his gaze back on Blue-hair.

 _Lub-dub._

There it was again, the pain in his chest.

He frowned, turning away from her. There's nothing more to it. It's just her hair. It reminded him of Hinata. That's it. He needs to find a way to stop this. It was… unbecoming of him.

He caught her gaze. Her blue orbs wavered, like she wanted to be somewhere else. Anxiety and fear. Naruto recalled that smiling makes people less uncomfortable. So he tried to give her what he thought to be an earnest smile.

It was a mistake.

She recoiled back like she was _struck —_ whipping her head back to the front.

Scrunching his brows, he wondered where he messed up. Did he not give her a smile? Maybe it wasn't. He didn't know.

He saw his reflection from Hinata's pendant. His blood-soaked visage.

 _'Maybe that's why.'_

From what he noticed, she wasn't the only one that was avoiding him. The closest person to him is the strange tour guide, Hiyomu, and even she was staying at least three meters away. Someone from the group spared a glance back, keeping an eye on him, making sure he remained the same distance away.

There was a common theme in their eyes.

Fear.

It's strange. As a soldier of ROOT, he was taught to recognize how his targets felt. Fear, anger, lust, confusion. He knew how they felt given the smallest detail; but he couldn't recognize how it felt. It was part of his training. ROOT agents were stripped bare of their emotions. Useless things according to Danzo.

Tools didn't need emotions.

His brain pricked at him. No. There was a time. A time when he felt something. A time before ROOT. He remembered… The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen. He called him ji—

A sharp stab of pain ran through his skull. The vessels in his brain were on fire, like hot magma was flowing through. He bit his teeth trying to stifle the pain as memories appeared in a series of flashes, far too fast for him to perceive.

Eventually, to his relief, the pain subsided and only a dull throb remained.

Danzo called it a memory seal. A seal that acted as a blockade, preventing him from accessing locked memories.

 _"You're a tool, boy. The village's asset. Never forget that"_

It brought forth useless emotions he said.

He blinked, seeing a hand wave back and forth in front of him. Turning to the owner, he saw Hiyomu looking at him with a questioning look. In fact, everyone had stopped to look at him. Muttering a small apology. He closed his eyes, proceeding forward.

Hinata, emotions, memories. He had so many questions but so little answers.

 _"I don't even know…"_ he muttered. Leaning his head back with a sigh, he closed his eyes. Pocketing Hinata's necklace inside his jacket and tuning everyone out.

* * *

The town of Alterna had streets lined with buildings. Some parts consisted only of wooden buildings while others consisted solely of stone buildings. There was also an aqueduct, with mostly clean water flowing through it. At times a foul odor would invade their senses, most likely excrement, but as the group continued walking, the smell became less of a bother to them.

Hiyomu led the group into the town beyond the hill. It was populated as one might expect from a place classified as a town. Majority of the residents seemed to be morning people as there was a handful of them who stopped to stare at the group, or rather the blood-soaked shinobi.

"So, is this like a foreign country or something?" a brunette with brown eyes asked.

"Huh, A foreign country? Wait, what country am I from anyway? What's my nationality?" Lanky asked.

"You guys didn't notice?" It was the well-built man from before, "My name is the only thing I remember."

Now, _that_ was news to him.

"Huh? He's right, I-I don't remember anything from before… what's…my name… my name's Mutsumi," the brown haired-girl stated.

"I'm… Merry. I think?" the blue-haired girl added.

 _'I'm the only who remembers?'_ Naruto thought.

No, actually there were a few memories where he drew a blank. He couldn't remember how he got here. He didn't know why he was inside that tower, and ...the war. He fought in a war. The fourth shinobi war. But… he couldn't remember which village fought who. Who did they fight against? Kiri? Suna?

…

"We're heeere!"

He was brought back to reality by Hiyomu's loud boisterous shout.

In front of them was a building. The building had a ruffling flag with a red crescent moon engraved on it. There was a sign out front with faded out letters saying "Altern Fronter Arm Voluter Solder Cops Red Mon."

"Ta-da!" Hiyomu said, pointing at the building, she started doing a little cheer as she continued. "Yosh we're finally here! Here. It. Is! This is the office of the famous volunteer soldier corps of the Alterna Frontier Army, Red Moon!"

* * *

"Come in, come in!" Hiyomu led them to a large hall with tables and chairs scattered around. The place looked like your average tavern complete with a counter at the back.

Behind the counter was a 'man' with his arms crossed. He was dressed in a white vest that exposed the upper part of his chest and his bellybutton under. He wore shoulder-length gloves and short-shorts that only reached down to his upper thighs.

"Well. This is it for me! Hope you all had fun on our little tour!" Hiyomu said with a slight bow. "Bri-chan, over there give you a rundown of what's next, 'kay? Ta-ta~" She gestured to the man behind the counter.

'Bri-chan' gave a light salute and waved Hiyomu good-bye. For some strange reason, he was also shaking his hips while waving his hand.

What a strange man.

After Hiyomu closed the door, an immediate silence befell the group. A weird tension started spreading through the air.

Bri kept his gaze fixated intently on the group, examining them, almost like he's dissecting them. A look of intrigue passed over his eyes as his gaze landed on Naruto.

Clicking his tongue, he started, "My, my… how unusual. What do we have here?" he rested his elbows on the counter, eyes staring intently at Naruto.

"That's what we'd like to know," the well-built man misunderstood who he was addressing, "We don't know where we are or who we were… the only thing we remember is our names."

Bri-chan chuckled in response and gave him a once-over, " _aaand~_ what's your name?" the way he said it made his spine tingle in disgust.

"Michiki." Michiki narrowed his eyes at him. He can't help it, this guy seemed way too suspicious.

"I'm sorry to say this Michiki-kun… and company," he gave the group a strange smile, "but no one in Alterna knows where you came from nor who you are." He then walked over to open one of the windows of the building.

The window had an unrestricted view of a large stone tower on a hill. The same tower where they came from.

"All we know is that occasionally groups of people are summoned in the forbidden tower. There's no pattern to it. It just happens." he jabbed a thumb towards the stone tower. Sending Naruto a creepy look, the same look one would have if one were to abduct him and keep him all to himself, "However, you… you're a special case, aren't you?"

Bri started circling him like how a lion stalks its prey. "Your eyes says it all." he started listing out, looking at Naruto straight in the eyes, "You don't look lost like the rest of them…" he stopped with a snap of his fingers, "you remember everything. Don't you?"

If Naruto was affected at all by Bri's conclusion, then he didn't show any outward response to signify it.

Bri grinned, stroking an imaginary beard. He bent at the waist level with a hand on his hip, "What's your name?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he replied, his face maintaining its emotionless look.

If it was possible, the look of delight in Bri's face would've magnified even further. The group felt the tension in the air. It felt like a timebomb was about to go off.

"Tell me Naruto-kun… exactly how skilled are you in your _profession._ " he ended with a devilish smile.

For a while, nothing happened.

...

Then it happened.

You would've missed it if you blinked.

Bri wasn't just fast, he was also fluid, smooth ,and precise. His movements came out all too natural. Something achievable only through years of practice.

Everyone had to do a double take. Their eyes trying to comprehend what they just saw.

Bri pressed the knife against Naruto's throat further, almost enough to draw blood — he would've had it not been for the kunai pressing against his heart.

Naruto regarded him with dull blue eyes. It fascinated Bri, those eyes were that of a killer but his innocence remained. How? This one had claimed the lives of others, but his purity remained. There was no guilt in him. It reminded him of the eyes one would see from typical predators like wolves, lions, bears.

He gave a soft chuckle which turned into full-blown laughter. Soon he was laughing hysterically while clutching at his ribs.

The group wondered if he knocked a few screws loose.

"Sorry." he excused himself, catching a breath and wiping a tear away. He removed the knife from Naruto's throat licking the small line of blood on the edge.

"You're a dangerous man. I like you." Bri said while licking his lips paying no heed to the knife poised to strike at his heart.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, regarding him with his dead-eyed stare, "Bri-san, please refrain from doing that in the future." He took his kunai and sheathed it back in his right pouch. He kept his eye on him. Just in case.

"Right." Bri cleared his throat, his eyes still full of glee. It was pretty creepy, quite frankly. "Anyways," Bri clapped his hands together, "This is a volunteer soldier office," he said with arms lifted in proclamation.

"You're all going to be volunteer soldiers. However, this isn't slavery and you have the freedom to decide."

"All of you can choose," Bri continued while lifting his index finger and wiggling it around. "You can either accept it or reject it. Here's my offer. You can join our Red Moon Volunteer Soldier Corps as part of the Alterna Frontier Army, and of course, you'll be starting off as trainees until you've reached the status of becoming a full-fledged volunteer soldier."

"Volunteer soldiers…" Mutsumi started, a worried look on her face, "What do they even do?"

"They fight of course!" Bri-chan replied with a wave of his hand. He started wiggling his index finger again, "Here in the borderlands there are races that are hostile to us humans. Our duty is to exterminate them, while the Frontier's armies' duty is to secure their post."

His lips curled downwards, forming a frown. A hand rubbing his chin.

"But, to be honest, it's not an easy job. Even more so for you. It would've been so much easier had you been summoned in the capital city. You would've only fought against brainless slimes. Too bad, Alterna's weakest monsters are goblins, sentient creatures who can think."

Michiki rubbed his chin contemplatively, "So basically, the regular forces protect the town, while the volunteer soldier corps strike out to slay hostile races and monsters. Did I get that right?"

"You got it!" Bri-chan cheered with a wink.

"What happens if I turn down your offer?" Naruto asked.

"Nothing really, y'know?" Bri tilted his head and shook his waist a little. Was he messing with him? Perhaps he was and threatening him at the same time.

"I told you before that I am giving you room to decide. You can choose. If you don't want to be a volunteer soldier then I welcome you to leave right now and never come back, no strings attached."

"However," Bri continued, "I can't take responsibility for you after that." He paused, "Any other job you find will come with its own troubles. Even if you do luck out and find someone willing to hire you, they'll pay you barely enough to cover for your necessities. Now for those of you who do accept the offer, you will receive ten silver coins to start you off. That will be enough for you to live on for the time being, I think." He pondered a bit followed with a shrug.

Bri began lining something up on the counter. Reddish, coin-like objects and little leather pouches. He grabbed one of the coin-like objects, which had a crescent moon engraved on it, between his fingers.

"This badge identifies the holder as a trainee. It's called a Trainee badge. It's proof of your status as a volunteer soldier trainee. If you take one, don't lose it. But I guess… it doesn't really entitle you to anything." He said with a shake of his head.

"Once you buy the official Corps badge from me for 20 silvers and become a full-fledged member of the Volunteer Soldier Corps, that one will have some perks."

"We have to pay for status?" the blue-haired lady asked hesitantly.

"Yes, is that a problem?"

She had no answer for that.

"Listen, say what you like and do what you want, but in this world without money, you can't eat, you can't clothe yourself, you can't do anything. What choice do you have?" Bri ended with an uncharacteristically serious look on his face.

"I see," Michiki began as he walked towards the counter and grabbed one of the Trainee badges. Then he looked back at the group and gave them a once over.

"Ogu-san," he approached the lanky man, maintaining eye contact with him. "Let's group up." He raised his hand up for a handshake.

Ogu paused and chewed on the left side of his cheek. He regarded the hand in front of him with an unsure look on his face. He looked up at Michiki and saw him nod his head with an honest smile.

Eventually he gave a shrug and grabbed his hand in a firm grip. "Alright." He replied

He gave the same offer to Hayashi. Who agreed to join without any issue.

Michiki then set his gaze on Merry and Mutsumi. He saw them sitting together in one of the stools with their own respective badge set on the table.

"Excuse me," he began, catching their attention.

Seeing them give him slightly guarded looks, the likes you'd give to strangers, he scratched at the back of his head. "Hey, I believe our chance of survival is better if we group up. Don't you think so?"

"So, would you like to join us?" he ended with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his head.

Merry kept her gaze on him for a moment and looked down at her feet murmured a soft,

"I guess."

Mutsumi agreed soon after.

"I didn't notice it before, but this is almost like one of those RPG games, right? Wait… game? ...What's a game anyway?" Mutsumi asked confused.

Michiki grabbed his chin in a thinking posture. "It sounds familiar but, I don't…know?" he said with furrowed brows.

"Maybe it's something from the world before?" Merry supplied helpfully.

Michiki nodded his head. Now that the group is almost complete he turned to set his eyes on Naruto, only to find no trace of him.

He glanced at the counter and saw all the badges missing.

 _'He claimed one then,'_ he thought. _'is he planning to get by on his own?'_

 _CLAP CLAP_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of clapping.

He saw Bri smiling and clapping his hands "Congratulations! Now, all of you are trainees. Work hard and learn to stand on your own two feet. Once you're a proper volunteer soldiers, I wouldn't be adverse to giving you some advice."

Bri noted that there was one trainee absent from the room.

 _"Ara? He left already?"_

He shook his head with a smile.

Seriously that man...

* * *

Naruto is walking through the street corners of an area called West Town.

He was able to secure himself a lodging area a couple blocks away for a measly cost of 5 coppers a day.

He got what he paid for. His lodging area is what you'd expect for that price. The place was more of a stable than anything else. The ground had no floors instead it was just a bunch straws piled up together. At least it came with a bed… made out of straw. There was also a bathing area and a table with a stool.

However, for him who's accustomed to sleeping in caves or on some occasion tree branches, it was luxurious enough.

Today was the day he was to join one these so-called guilds, where he was to be trained to specialize in a specific 'job class'.

Not that he needed the training, he may have lost the ability to use ninjutsu but he was still confident with his base taijutsu and kenjutsu. If it didn't lead to consequences, he wouldn't even join. Guilds had to follow some kind of regulation—a code—or face punishment. It was all just another restriction to him, but his landowner had argued that nobody would be willing to hire him if he wasn't affiliated with a guild.

Which is why he now found himself in the middle of an alleyway, in front of a ridiculously low doorway. The height could just barely reach up to his waist; the door itself was rusty and the knob looked like a human hand with a keyhole engraved in its palm.

He crouched low and gave the knob a twist.

 _Click-clack._

It was locked.

So, he tried knocking a few times.

…

…

...

No answer

Furrowing his brows, he knocked again. He tried this a few more times to no avail. He was just about to call it quits but then a low voice come from inside. "State your business." it sounded vaguely female.

Clearing his throat, he uttered, "I'm here to join the guild."

The door clicked open.

Naruto put his hand on the knob and turned. The hall beyond was cramped. He had to twist his body diagonally to fit in. He idly wondered if this is how worms felt when they crawled their way underground.

He managed to progress down the hall soon enough and came upon a dimly lit room. Unlike the entrance this room was spacious, there was a desk in the room with a woman sitting on it cross-legged.

The woman practically oozed danger. She was playing with a knife, throwing it up in the air, effortlessly catching it with her fingertips. Her brown hair was long, covering up half her face. She wore glasses over her brown eyes, though it was missing its upper frame.

Her attire left little to the imagination. Her arms, thighs and parts of her chest were exposed for the world to see.

"You want to join the thieves' guild?"

Naruto gave her a nod.

Catching her knife and spinning it idly with her thumb, she said, "If you're joining us you'll be going through seven days of training. One-on-one."

A flirtatious smile spread across her face, "I'll be responsible for you of course. An honor, no?" she finished with a wink.

If her teasing had any effect on him at all, he didn't show it.

Her eyebrow twitched at his lack of reaction. Stabbing her knife through the desk, she licked her lips. A menacing gleam crossed her eyes, "You know, I like guys like you," sauntering over to him.

"Silent types like you usually scream the loudest" the woman jeered, chuckling sadistically.

His face remained blank, eyes dull as ever.

She made a tsk sound with her mouth. Crossing her arms under her bust, she continued. "Do you know the code of the thieves' guild?"

"There isn't one."

"Correct." The woman jumped off the desk simultaneously pulling out the knife and giving it a twirl as she did so.

"However, _there is_ honor among thieves." She raised an index finger, "we don't do jobs that interfere with jobs of fellow thieves, we don't steal from our own, we don't sell each other out. I'll discuss more about it later. If you become a thief that is"

She stuck her hand out palm up "I'm sure you know this already, but we don't exactly do this for free."

Naruto reached into his pouch and laid the required amount on the woman's palm.

 _8 silver coins._

She gave him a charming smile as she pocketed the coins.

"Payment received. All you have to do now is take the oath, but we're pretty lenient about it. More importantly, we should find you a trade name"

Seeing Naruto's confused look, she explained "We thieves don't use our real name among each other. You're just another face here. As your Mentor, I'll be the one to christen you with it. So, you better work hard if you want something impressive."

"I'm Barbara by the way. You can call me Barbara-sensei or Barbara-chan," she hooked an arm around his neck and whispered into his ear. "We'll have sooo much fun in the next seven days. Do _try_ to stay alive for me, please?"

* * *

Barbara could count on one hand the number of people who've impressed her. But this one trainee blew her expectations, barreling his way straight to the top of her list.

In six days she had taught him all the necessities a thief needed to know. Roles in a party, rules of engagement, assassination techniques, and a few others. Besides that, she also trained him the basic skills and movesets of a thief.

[Slap] is a skill used when the user and the opponent are in a deadlock. It's a skill that maneuvers the dagger to hit or slash at the opponent's wrist to make them drop their weapon.

[Stealth Walk] is a skill that allows the user to be undetected by making their movement supernaturally silent.

[Backstab] is the signature skill of a thief. It gave the user access to a prepackaged moveset that maneuvers the thief behind their opponents, stabbing them in the back, dealing significant damage.

Naruto took to it like a fish to water. His movement was always so fluid, so natural. Like he'd done it for years.

On the final day of training, she asked him to spar with her.

If she were to be honest, spar sessions were more of an excuse for her to release pent-up stress. She expected the spar to be completely one sided... and it was.

She was absolutely getting destroyed.

The fight began like how she expected it to, with her in the offensive. Yet, for some reason, none of her strikes connected with her target.

Every single one was either dodged or parried. Finally, she found an opening when he had over extended his leg a bit too far.

She capitalized on the opening, swinging her dagger at him.

The blond easily blocked it with an almost lazy swipe of his knife.

But she expected that, she grabbed his knife hand and hooked her right leg on the back of his extended right knee. Throwing off his sense of balance. Pressing on, she yanked his knee out from under him.

Her lips curled to a smirk as the blonde sucked in a breath. Barbara used the leverage she had on him to slam him down.

But she didn't expect his counter. Naruto had hooked his left arm on her right, using it to flip her, reversing their positions.

Spittle flew from her mouth as her back met the ground with a sharp THWACH. She resisted the urge to groan, knowing how that'll feel the next morning.

 _"That reflex,"_ She winced, turning to her bruised right arm. That last throw almost dislocated it!

 _"and that strength."_

Naruto propped his body up with a handstand, using the spring of his arm to propel himself away from her. Giving her room to recover.

She stood up with a wince and set her gaze on him. Her eyes narrowed at him. He wasn't even winded! It frustrated her, he seemed to be just pulling moves out of nowhere. Everytime she'd increase the intensity of her attacks, he'd match her as if… wait — was he…. was he _toying_ with her.

She gritted her teeth bloodlust leaking from her eyes. Clutching her knife so hard her knuckles turn white. Rage propelled her forward, eyes blazing with the intent to maim him.

 _'I'll make you pay for that, you prick'_

They clashed, and for the next few minutes or so, the two were stuck in a deadlock. Slowly, it became clear who was winning this sudden exchange. Naruto parried or dodged everything Barbara threw and she was starting to feel winded. The deadlock was finally broken when Barbara took a critical misstep and she felt the air suddenly robbed off her lungs, courtesy of a spinning side kick.

She sucked air through her teeth, jumping away and clutching her aching ribs. The force of that kick felt like a bull had rammed her at full speed!

Taking the time to regain her bearings, she took a deep breath and examined his stance.

It was stable. There was no flaws to it. His left foot extended forward with his legs bent a bit, muscles loose and ready to spring into action. His left hand was loosely tucked under his chin and his right hand held his dagger in a reverse grip.

Her eyes narrowed, sweat dripping from the side of her head, _'Just who the hell is this guy.'_

His blade didn't look like any weapon she recognized. The shape seemed foreign to her, the hilt was wrapped in bandages with a small ring attached to the end of it.

 _'And what kind of weapon is that?'_

From its design, she deduced that it was meant for stabbing, more so than cutting, but Naruto proved to be more creative with his use of it.

Her thoughts were cut short when Naruto suddenly blurred in front of her, crossing the distance between them at almost supersonic was only by pure reflex that she was able to duck underneath his fast swipe. Capitalizing on the opening it left, she went for a swipe of her own, targeting his legs.

Putting his hand on her back, he pushed down, using her body as a springboard. He twisted his body mid-air attempting to nick her shin but she rolled away narrowly avoiding the crippling slash.

Barbara gulped, if that hit landed then it would've been over immediately. She'd be hard pressed to beat him if he took her mobility away from her.

Dull blue eyes regarded her with the same unnerving stare. He exhaled a breath, going back to a loose stance waiting for her next move.

There was only one way she could win this, and she only had one chance at it. Mustering all her strength, she sped up toward him, speed increasing with every step. When she was in striking range, she twisted around using the momentum to send a roundhouse kick.

Naruto ducked under the attack, preparing to counter, but just then a handful of sand connected with his eyes, robbing him of his vision.

Barbara capitalized on the opening, dashing toward him,

 _'You're faster than me, you're stronger than me, but you're a long ways off from becoming as crafty as me, rookie,'_ she thought.

The taste of victory was only an edge away from her.

Switching her grip on her dagger so that the blunt end was facing him. She didn't want to kill him, afterall. She swung, aiming to knock him out.

But instead of hearing the satisfying smack that followed a hit. Barbara felt a sudden force connect with her ribs. Her body lurched forward as the air was once again knocked off her. Eyes wide opened, Barbara marvelled in disbelief as she hurled out the breakfast she ate this morning.

 _'H-How?!'_

Somehow, He'd managed to both dodge the swing and counter her by grabbing the back of her neck and; giving her a hard knee straight to the solar plexus. All with his eyes closed.

Her back met the ground with a loud THUD. Coughing, she clutched at her ruined abdomen. Everything was like a blur. There were stars circling her vision and by the time her senses came back, Naruto was already on top of her, straddling her, the unmistakable feeling of cold steel against her throat.

"Yield." he said.

She gave several coughs in response, pangs of disappointment coming through in waves, "Alright, -cough- alright, jeez, you got me. I -cough- give" she grumbled with an uncharacteristic pout. Defeated by a rookie… if her coworkers hears of this they'll never let her live this down.

The blonde loosened his hold on her, withdrawing back the knife to his pouch, by then Barbara had just realized exactly how close they were. A devious plot formed on her head and she couldn't suppress the mischievous grin that grew on her face.

Revenge...this was revenge, retribution for her ruined pride.

Licking her lips, Barbara hooked her arms securely around his neck, drawing him close. She closed her eyes and mashed their lips together.

An electrifying jolt sprang from her lips, light tingles traversing her spine. She ravaged his lips, pressing herself body against his and plundered his mouth roughly.

Grinning to herself, she imagined his heart racing. The light sputter on his lips as a blush formed in his cheeks. His calm facade shattering, exposing his flustered face.

Slowly opening her eyes, she felt goosebumps run down her spine. Eager to see the look of shock on his face.

Only, it wasn't there...

 _'Wah?'_

He was completely unresponsive. His eyes retained their dreary look. Twin pools of hollow blue eyes that threatened to suck you in..

 _'It's like kissing a brick wall.'_

Her expression drooped down to a complete deadpan, the passion within her eyes withering like doused flames. _'How dull…',_ she pressed hands against his chest, palms up and harshly shoved him off.

"Baka," she spat. An angry pout on her face. Her lips, bruised; Her pride even more so. She stood up, dusting her clothes off and fixing her glasses. Finally she turned to him, eyes narrowed in a glare.

"I've decided."

He grunted feeling her jab him harshly with an index finger.

"I've decided on your name…"

She jabbed even harder this time, lips falling into a thin line.

"I'm calling you Deadfish from now on. Why? Cause you literally have the same emotional capacity as a dead fish!"

She promptly walked away from him, muttering something about annoying overpowered blondes.

"He's so… _Ugh!_ " she clenched her teeth, balling her hands into fists, "Seriously, can he at least show a _little bit_ of appreciation?!... The nerve!" she growled, stomping away from him.

Naruto could only cock his head to the side, still _trying_ to _comprehend_ what happened.

* * *

He scouted them from behind a tree. Five of them...There was only five of them. He leaned back, feeling the rough surface of the tree trunk rub against his back.

These were ugly diminutive creatures.

The tallest one stood at about 4 ½ feet with the smallest barely reaching up to 4 feet. They had pointed ears over a hairless head black pearl-like eyes. Their skin tones varied from green, grey and muddy-yellow. They had a big mouth with their upper and lower fangs jutting out.

They were all wearing a one-piece loincloth to cover their lower bodies. On their neck hung a necklace with two wolf-fangs acting as a pendant. They were equipped with a variety of weapons, mostly made of wood and iron. The tall one wielded a spear, two of them had hand-axes, one had both a sword and a leather buckler, and the smallest one wielded a short dirk.

The group was out in the open, all gathered around a campfire a couple meters away from him.

The fire crackled as the spear goblin prodded at the burning cinder with his spear. The two hand-ax goblins were in makeshift bedrolls. The sword-buckler goblin was sitting on a tree stump on the opposite side of the spear goblin. The dirk goblin was sitting with his knees bent near the riverbank with his water pouch out.

He carefully took out a pair of kunai knives in his pouch. One on each hand. Emerging from behind the tree trunk and taking careful aim of the two sleeping goblins. He lifted his arms to throw.

Now.

A wet squelch echoed throughout the clearing as one of the hand-ax goblins dropped from a kunai embedded into its skull, the other one wasn't as lucky. The kunai lodged itself into its throat. The gob grabbed at its neck, trying desperately to stifle the blood. But it was futile, it choked on its own blood, slowly dying from its wound.

The spear goblin shouted something in its tongue with a distinct inflection of fear in its voice.

Naruto didn't waste a moment and continued to press his advantage. Grabbing another kunai from his pouch he dashed toward the spear goblin.

He crouched low, avoiding the incoming stab and quickly countering by swinging down with his kunai. It staggered on it steps letting out a shriek as the blade clipped its Achilles' heel.

Desperately, it swung wildly, trying to keep him away. But he didn't have to worry. The gob swung in a wide arc missing him by a large margin. Finally, its feet gave out from under it. The creature couldn't hold on anymore. It fell flat on its butt and clutching its heel, trying to stop the ebbing flow of blood.

The sword-buckler gob tried to help but Naruto anticipated this. The gob's head snapped back, stars suddenly erupting in its vision courtesy of a swift punch from the blonde shinobi.

He grabbed the sword-buckler gob's neck.

 _Crack_

With a sharp twist, its neck snapped, ending its life. Naruto quickly grabbed the deceased gob's sword and chucked it at the wailing spear goblin.

"Yaaaaa— achk!"

With a resounding welch, the sword dug deep into the spear gob's torso. It took a few seconds for it to register the sword sticking out of its back. Then it fell on its back with a thud, Dead. Twitching occasionally.

Seeing its allies dispatched so easily the dirk gob tried to make a run for it only to see the blonde blocking its path.

It looked around, taking a step in every direction. Eventually it stopped, it sucked in a breath and cried out loudly. It wanted to run away, but it couldn't.

The diminutive creature looked at Naruto and started screaming as fiercely as it could. Fight or flight. If one option was removed, you'd typically resort to the other.

It was scared. He could see it. The dirk gob was desperate. It didn't want to die. It wouldn't just let itself die. It has a resolved look in its eyes. It was either going to kill him first or die trying.

But Naruto was unmoved by its threats. He quickly dashed toward it, drawing another knife from his pouch. The gob attempted a desperate lunge forward, trying to stab his head.

His eyes dilated into focus and time slowed down to a crawl. He could feel everything around him. The gob was moving so slow. He could see every muscle tense in the diminutive creature. He duck down under its thrust, swinging himself to the side and lining his blade to its back. Grabbing his kunai with both hands, he felt for the sudden pull of his skill.

 _Back Stab_

The knife was brutally driven into the dirk gob's back and immediately it collapsed in a heap.

Naruto let out a breath as the adrenaline in his body started to die. As he took in a breath, he scanned the clearing examining his handy work.

Other than the pools of blood coming from the goblins' corpses the camp looked pretty much the same.

 _"Mercy...please have mercy!" a woman pleaded, her form covered in blood, and her arms holding tightly on a bundle of cloth._

He groaned, clutching the side of his head. He leaned on a nearby tree, trying to right himself as another memory surfaced up from the depths of his mind. Eventually, the visions stopped, burying itself back into the deep recesses of his thoughts.

 _'J-just another memory'_

Shaking his head, he bent down the recently deceased gob and used its loincloth to wipe the blood of his knives. Taking the makeshift pendant around its neck, he started going through all the deceased gobs' valuables, looting anything that looked to be of any value.

His haul amounted up to five pendants, a low-grade spear, a low-grade dirk, two worn-out hand axes, a low-grade sword and a tattered leather buckler.

Sitting down on the grass, he lowered his guard, letting his hand fall to his sides. Then he tilted head back and closed his eyes, allowing himself to have a short period of rest.

 _My eyes hardened as I walked away, the ground littered with corpses of men, women and children._

This was his first bounty. His first mission as a volunteer soldier. He understood this world. It wasn't so different after all, it followed the same principles. He knew how it worked, in fact, he excelled in it.

The rules were the same.

 _Kill or be killed. Take or be taken from._

 **The strong lived, the weak died.**

* * *

The sweet calm breeze of the cool night air carried with it the soft scent of fresh mildew. It was a full moon tonight. Its gentle light delicately illuminated the wild flora surrounding him.

He leaned back, hands propped up against the luscious grass. Tilting his head back a bit, and letting a serene look come upon him. A rare look. For some strange reason, he was at peace. He opened his eyes, lazily fixating it on the brilliant constellation of stars that blanketed the evening sky.

Light footsteps came from behind prompting him to spare a glance at the new arrival.

"Taichou..." she nodded in greeting, a radiant smile on her face.

He gave her a nod, setting his gaze back up as she situated herself beside him.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" there was a hint of wonder in her voice, the brilliant pearls of her eyes soaking in the magnificent view.

He nodded his head in reply, but he kept his eyes on the view, allowing the scene to forever be engraved in his memories.

For a while, no other sound came. The two took their time, enjoying the short moment of respite.

"Naruto-senpai," she kept her gaze locked on the night sky.

"Hmm?"

"Tomorrow's the day, right?"

"Yes." he answered softly. A slight bit of mist formed from his breath. It was getting cold.

"Then it'll be all over?" she asked again.

"Maybe."

Her smile flickered seeming to be a little bit more somber this time. He heard her shuffle in place, a moment later, she wrapped her arms around him from behind, feeling her rest her face on the crook of his neck.

"I-I'm afraid...taichou...I-Is it ok to be afraid?"

"...You won't die," he assured her.

She shook her head, her face rubbing on his back.

"Not for me… for you"

"What do you mean?"

"Senpai," her voice sounded more like a whisper this time. "...when everything's done, I want you to live...live for me..."

"I don't understand."

She pulled him in tighter.

"...You don't know it yet, but you're covered in burns," Turning around to face her, he saw tears on the corners of her eyes. There was a slight quiver as she fought to keep the remaining tears at bay.

"You don't understand it yet, but one day you will...and when you do, you'll know that you are burning inside…"

She buried her head on his chest, her tears staining his shirt wet.

"...On that day, I want you to remember — if not for yourself, then at the very least… please, do it for me."

"Live for _me_."

" _Live for me_."

Her arms wrapped around him tighter, it felt constricting this time. It kept getting tighter and tighter. It was starting to become uncomfortable.

"Hinata."

He pressed his hands against her shoulders trying to loosen her hold, to no avail. A hard cough escaped her lips as something wet hit his chest.

"Live for me."

"Hinata." he said, louder this time.

Pushing her away, this time amplifying his arms with chakra. Her vice grip broke and he froze.

There was a red stain on his chest.

 _Blood?_

His eyes widened as his eyes befell her.

She stood hunched over, arms wrapped around herself. A katana protruded from her chest, splotches of blood on her torso.

A malicious grin was on her lips, blood dripping from the side of her mouth. No, blood came out off every orifice. And she chuckled darkly.

The winds picked up, gathering together, slowly forming a vortex. Not long after, it became a howling tornado. Trees, boulders,and dirt were thrown about in a horrific display of destruction. Cracks formed in the ground and fissures came out as the entire place shook. Wails of despair echoed throughout the clearing. What was once a place of tranquility had been twisted into an infernal region filled with despair.

Her mantra continued, her voice contorting, sounding more and more monstrous with every word.

"Live for m- **e…Live for me… Live for me** "

Her eyes opened wide, a crazed look in her pearl orbs. She made lunge for him, grabbing a hol—

 _Gasp_

He awoke with a start, sweat dripping from every pore. His shirt was wet, sheets scattered about. His hand trembled and he grabbed it in a firm hold to still it. He mustered himself, taking deep heavy breaths.

It had been a little over a month since he arrived. In that time, He'd been able to make enough money to buy himself the necessities such as pillows, toiletries, etc.

His chosen hunting ground is Damuro. It used to be the second-largest city in Arabakia, and had been much larger than Alterna. However, it was laid waste by the No-Life King's forces and came into undead control.

After the No-Life King's demise, the goblins, who were their slaves drove out the undead and made the city their own. Now, it's well known as Damuro, the city of goblins.

Socially, he'd kept mostly to himself, choosing not to interact with people unless needed. So far, the only ones he'd interact with were his landlord, the local blacksmith, and the local baker.

Raising a hand to rub the fatigue out of his eyes, he thought, _'What's happening to me.'_ There was noticeable bags in his eyes, nightmares had plagued his dreams every night and sleep had been lost to him since then.

Pulling at the hem of his shirt, he raised it up. Revealing a toned body, the type you'd get only after years of constant harsh training. His gaze directed to the seal on his abdomen, examining every intricate symbol etched on it.

 _'It's becoming unstable'_ He noted, tracing the element with his fingers.

The eight-trigram seal had been progressively deteriorating. It was lacking in supply. The seal originally used his chakra to power it up, reinforcing the ink on a regular basis. But now, since his chakra remained inaccessible to him, the ink had started to fade away. The seal was weakening. The consequences it entailed not only meant his death but also more than half of the denizens.

After all, the Kyuubi was considered an SS-class threat in the ninja world. And he could tell that this world's populace is significantly weaker. If the fox were to ever be released, no one would be able to stop it. It'd be a massacre.

He couldn't let that happen. There has be a way to unlock his chakra, and he needed to find it fast.

For his sake, and for theirs.

* * *

Naruto shifted his cloak breathing out a cold mist. Nightly strolls have always been one of the leisure activities he enjoyed. The air was cold, but it was also gentle, calm, peaceful; quite the contrast to his current state of mind.

He had another one of 'those' dreams again and it was wearing him down. His movements have been sluggish, sometimes he'd lose track of what he was doing.

It was impossible to sleep, so he decided to take a walk. It helped, but it didn't stop the haunting visions of Hinata that would plague his thoughts on occasions. It was like a mirage, but it felt so… real.

Alterna's streets was bustling tonight. The soft plucking of lute strings formed pleasant melodies in the air. Merchants were hollering everywhere, giving out discounts and deals, no doubt wanting to sell the last of their goods before the night ends. Torches lined the walls illuminating the area in soft orange.

He turned to a nearby post, looking at the street sign. 'Flower Garden Street' so he was by the northern section of Alterna.

The jovial shouts of patrons sounded out in a building ahead of him. It had a sign on the front written in bold letters "Sherry's Tavern", the color of the words "Tavern" was worn out, making it hard to read.

He twisted the knob, pushing the door open. It was a bit crowded inside, but it had a cozy feel to it. There were a couple of tables and chairs scattered about and a counter near the back. Behind the counter, displayed on a shelf were various liquors and spirits.

Seating down on one of the stools by the counter, he rested his elbows against the countertop.

"What'll it be?" the bartender, a bald burly man asked him.

Naruto looked at the shelf, looking for options. There was a bunch of strange drinks, ranging from shots infused with wolf blood, to ...ogre eyes sunrise; but they also had the traditional drinks. He settled for something more familiar this time.

"A tankard of mead."

The bartender gave a nod and excused himself.

Naruto scooted forward, situating himself in a more comfortable position. overheard the conversation of the two people sitting beside me, to my right.

"Seriously?!"

He turned to the source, a volunteer soldier wearing a plate armor with a hood and a white cape in the symbol of seven-crests forming an X shape. His companion shushed him for his outburst, the man gave a sheepish look.

"…I mean really...? Another wave of rookies came out of the tower… that's pretty quick." exclaimed the one with the hood.

"Yeah, they've been the talk of the townsfolk today."

"Can you blame them? Hayashi's group has only been here for like two months or so. Bless their souls, It's a shame… you know… with what happened to them."

Naruto's ears perked at that little information.

 _'…Two months?'_

That must be the same group from the tower.

"None of them deserved that… it's… quite sad, seeing rookies die so early in the job," the hooded guy shook his head. He continued,

"How's Hayashi doing these days?"

"He's been coping well, I think..." the brown-haired guy replied taking a sip of his beer. "He knows well enough that death isn't a stranger in this line of work... He's a bit worried about Merry though..."

The hooded guy nodded in response

"Yeah about that... rumors say that she doesn't stay more than a week in a group. Some soldiers have even started calling her 'Ill-tempered Merry'."

"Yea-"

"Here you go, lad. Enjoy!"

Naruto's thoughts broke off as a tankard of mead arrived on the table. He gave the bartender a silent 'thanks', taking a sip of the beverage.

It tasted...sweet, with the mild burning sensation of alcohol intermingling in together. It's quite refreshing. It probably is one of his favorite beverages her at Sherry's.

He leaned forward, resting his head on his arms. His thoughts going back to the subject of the two soldiers.

It seems like that group died.

He didn't really know how to feel about it, everyone dies someday, it was only a matter of who would go first, or rather, how one would go.

Though his thoughts moved to the blue-haired lady. Merry, if he recalled correctly. It's quite ironic, her new 'title' is a complete opposite of what her name meant.

There's been a few things he's learned ever since he arrived in this world. He'd rented out a book in the local library that detailed the finer points of human emotions. It said that when a person loses something they 'loved' it results in a painful sensation, mostly associated with the heart.

This 'love' is perhaps the most confusing and inconsistent emotion. Some say love is the best thing one can experience, but others state that love is the most painful thing that has happened in their life. So which one is it, what is 'love'?

If he could figure what this meant, then maybe he can understand exactly what made Hinata so… different.

It's quite strange, for as long as he could remember he had never 'felt' before. But here, he's experiencing these strange sensations, feelings and emotions. Things that up to now, remain foreign to him.

Though it seems to him, that this… Merry is experiencing what one would call grief. He wondered if that's what he felt with Hinata, but then the implications of that meant he 'loved' Hinata, wouldn't it? Shaking his head, he downed the rest of his drinking.

He lifted an index finger at the bartender, requesting for another around.

* * *

Naruto twirled the blade in his hand, shifting his grip to test for its weight.

"You interested in that, lad?" the smith asked him, hands in his pockets while leaning on the counter.

He was a brute of a man, in his late forties or early fifties. Facial hair covered the majority of his face, with his beard reaching down to the top of his chest. There was a mass of tattoos lining up his arms, so much so that his arms looked like it had been painted ebony.

"That's a throwing knife." The smith informed, "hunters love them, but there's a few soldiers that keep them as back up."

Examining the knife, he traced the edge with his finger. Naruto frowned,

It was a bit flimsy, the edges were a bit dull and he doubted it had the durability to last as long as a kunai. Though it's light for its size. The handle was wrapped in a black cloth with a ring drilled to the end of it. The blade curved outwards from both sides, meeting in a single sharp point at the tip.

It wasn't the best but it was a passable substitute till he found a way to supply himself with kunais. Nodding at the man he said, "I'll take a dozen."

"It costs two and a half silver for one so, that'll be... thirty silvers."

He dug into his pocket and fished out the right amount of coins, setting it on the counter.

 _"That leaves me with... 27 silver coins,_ " he thought.

A thought crossed him. "How much would it take to repair this?" he unsheathed the tanto strapped to his back and placed it on the counter.

There were cracks lining the blade, the edge was chipped, looking like it had suffered its fair share of battles.

The smithy took the blade, examining it. After analyzing it, the smith nodded his head, taking a mental note of the overall costs for the material, repair, and service.

"This blade is made of high-quality material." the smithy noted, holding the blade evenly in his hands. "That alone is going to cost you a fortune."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding.

"It'll be around four gold coins plus another fifty silvers for service and repair."

He frowned, his lips sloping downwards in disappointment. That was a bit too much for his price range. He made about twenty-five silvers on a good day, recently, however, with the arrival of the rookies The amount he brought back had become even less.

Giving the man a nod of thanks, he took back his tanto and his newly purchased goods and opened the knob of the doorway leading outside.

The smithy was situated in the central plaza, where the marketplace was located. It was the central place of commerce in Alterna - a hot spot for merchants and storekeepers.

The marketplace was lively. The prices of all the items were written as 1C, 7C, 1S, and so on. Merchants and adventurers were noisily haggling. Merchants were calling out to him, "You sir, come browse my wares…" or "You sir, would you like some…"

He heard the sound of hammer hitting nail. Turning to the source he saw a man nailing something on a wooden post.

Taking a closer look, he saw the words "Notice Board" carved into it. There were various requests on the board ranging from assisting a shopkeeper, collecting ingredients or collecting the bounty of certain creatures. His eyes caught sight of a certain request.

 **Bounty Notice!**

 **Slay the Mutilator.**

 **Calling all adventurers, The Mutilator has been reported to be wandering the grounds of Central Damuro, be warned, this hobgoblin has killed more than its fair share of volunteer soldiers.**

 **Reward for confirmed kill: 5 gold pieces.**

 **For more information contact, Bri of the Red Moon Army.**

 **Warning! This is a party quest, do not venture alone.**

 **…**

 _'Five gold?'_ he marvelled.

One gob kill usually netted him an average of seventy copper in loot. For it to be valued at five gold coins, that means it was worth more or less a hundred goblins.

He looked at the etching sketched on the parchment. The target's most prominent features is the large nose stud made of direwolf fangs stuck its septum. It's also described to have a collection of shrunken human heads hanging from its neck, bounded by a string.

 _'If I succeed, I'll have enough gold to repair my tanto. However,'_ his eyes skimmed over the parchment again. _'I've never been to the deeper parts of Damuro.'_

His hunting grounds for a long time had been restricted to the outer ruins of Damuro. He didn't really find any reason to venture deeper into the lost city, but this changes things.

Running his tongue on the lower part of his teeth, he sucked in air through his teeth.

 _'I need more supplies'_

* * *

Naruto pressed his back against the wall, holding his breath, waiting for the gob to pass through.

The new city of Damuro turned out to be a lot more fortified than he expected. They had multiple lookouts set up at certain points to spot approaching hostiles. The city itself was enclosed in a stone wall with four gates serving as the entrance. Each gate was heavily guarded by at least eight to eleven gobs, depending on the time.

It was well after dusk, the sun having swallowed by darkness.

He was mindful enough to bring a rope. It served its purpose, he used it as a rappel to get himself up the walls and inside the city.

The inside was no less fortified as the outside, patrols littered almost every part of the city. He had to exploit every nook and cranny of the alleyways to remain undetected.

He wasn't having any luck in finding the target though. He had scoured high and low for it yet there were no signs of it.

Eventually, he hid inside a dimly lit balcony of an abandoned building, avoiding one of the patrols. Though as luck would have it a shadow steadily approached the doorway.

It was cautious like it knew something was wrong.

His eyes sharpened. Naruto held his breath, suppressing his presence, blending in with the shadows. There was tension in the air, he could the sweat on his back dripping onto the cold hard floor. It'd been a long day of running and stealth, and he felt the fatigue start to get to him. Naruto took a firm hold of his knife seeing the shadow approach at strike distance.

 _'I have to make this quick - make sure it couldn't alert anyone.'_

It happened almost instantly.

Its eyes widened, lips opening up to scream something but it was already done. It gurgled blood as his knife lodged itself deep in its throat.

Naruto made sure to cover its mouth muffling any sound it made, all the while keeping eye contact with it. It struggled briefly but then its strength began waning.

For a moment, all that was heard was the faint sound of gurgling as the gob choked on its own blood. There was great panic in its eyes, looking everywhere trying to find a way to escape its predicament.

 _His hands clawed at my wrist, trying to break my hold on his neck. His eyes started to dull._

Naruto shook his head, things have gotten worse lately. The visions won't stop, it just kept coming.

Finally, almost mercifully, he shoved another knife underneath its head, jabbing it straight up its brain - the light left its eyes immediately. Setting the lifeless body down on the rough concrete, he gathered whatever he could from it, finding a dirk of medium quality, and a necklace with a tusk of some kind as its pendant.

Reaching into his pockets and unfurling a map. He examined the etchings, taking out a piece of charcoal from his pocket, he marked his location on the parchment.

 _'I've scoured well over more than half of the city, and there were still no signs of the Mutilator.'_

His eyes narrowed, lips pressed together. There's a high chance it was staying in the central plaza. That was bad news for him. The central plaza is a hot spot for gobs. The chances that he'd remain undetected in that area was slim to none.

But this is best shot he had at eliminating it. He had killed one of the patrols, soon enough, they'll send a search party, and discover the corpse. He was running on a time limit.

The [Stealth Walk] skill came in handy as he moved over from building to building until finally, the plaza came into view.

It was quite big, consisting of a few stone buildings in the center, there were wooden stalls scattered about, filled with various goods as goblins and hobgoblins alike clamored.

Ducking under the cover of one of the wooden stalls, he raised his head out to look. There were about twenty hobgoblins and double that number in terms of regular gobs. He scowled. It's just as he thought, this area is a hotspot for gobs. His chances of finding the target was dwindling.

Things looked bleak.

 _'Even if I do find my target, there'd no guarantee that I'd be able to escape this place alive. I need to go ba—'_

 _CRACK_

He froze at the sound. It came from behind him. Turning around he felt his heart skip a beat.

A few meters away, a merch gob stood quaking, with its hands held out, holding an imaginary pot.

 _My eyes met the quivering form of a civilian man, his eyes full of panic, he turned to scream-_

The gob turned around to scream.

Naruto shook himself awake, drawing a knife from his pouch and flinging it at the frightened gob.

Seconds later, its cry was silenced as the flying projectile met its head in a sickening wet squelch. It hit the ground soon after, but it was already too late. The gob had done its job, every gob in the vicinity had been alerted to his presence.

Silence pervaded for a few seconds. The gobs flicking their eyes over between him and the newly deceased corpse. It took them a second to realize what happened.

 **"HAaR MEL, HAaR DAan MOLkAC!"**

Every gob and hobgob plowed their way toward him in an angry mass of green and grey.

Naruto bit the side of his cheek, resisting the urge to curse. He quickly sprang up from his position darting toward the direction of the nearest gate. He sprinted, jumped, skidded, — and _dived_ through all the obstacles in the way. His heart beating a mile a minute, his body pumping copious amounts of adrenaline into his system.

Retrieving couple knives from his pack, he flung it behind him in random directions. A couple of them cried out in pain, from the sudden attack. It didn't stop the group though. In fact, it added fuel to the fire as their shouts renewed in strength. These gobs were relentless.

Naruto ran for what seemed like an eternity, till finally, almost mercifully. The entryway of the gate came into view. His lungs screamed at me, legs begging for rest, but his adrenaline kept him up, pumping more and more into his bloodstream.

 _'O-only a f-few meters now'_

He gritted his teeth, seeing the guards form a perimeter to intercept him.

Nimbly ducking under an overhead swipe. He bent his knees as low as he can, placing every ounce of energy he had left on to his legs, he made a desperate lunge forward, using the guard's head as a springboard to further his ascent.

 _'Al-most'_

He landed about three meters in front of the gate, reaching his hand out to the exit — the gate sealed shut — and so was his fate.

His strength left him, the adrenaline expired. He failed. There was no more escape, there were too many gobs. He can't beat all of them. That's it.

 _'It's over'_

For a moment, something gripped at his heart. It felt… cold, empty. Raising a hand he marvelled, _'Why am I shaking…? Is this fear?''_

He gritted his teeth, closing his eyes.

 _'What is happening…? Do I fear death...? since when?'_

He tuned everything out — his fatigue, his breathing, even the malicious cackles of the gobs as they approached.

 _...Live for me…_

 _'Right.'_

His eyes opened, burning with resolve, taking out a pair of kunai, the last few he had left. He turned, blurring and landing a vicious strike on the side of a mace-gob. It cried out in pain, holding unto its bleeding side. The group moved back, at the sudden attack, slowly trying to circle him.

His eyes scanned his opponents.

He counted ten, including the injured guard gob, all armed with assorted weapons; a spear, a sword and buckler, a crossbow, a dagg-

He narrowly ducked under a crossbow bolt. His eyes immediately locking unto the crossbow gob, labelling it as the greatest threat.

He dashed toward it, he moved so fast it put a strain on his legs. He hoped that his speed would catch it by surprise but it wasn't so. The gob maneuvered away from his strike jumping back behind the group.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, it was a nimble little gob. His instincts kicked in and he dodged to the right, a sword slashed at his previous location, courtesy of the sword-buckler gob. He countered with a right knee delivering it straight to its chest cavity.

 _SQUELCH_

Correction, straight _through._ Wrenching the deceased gob off his foot, he flung the blood away with a swing of his leg.

The group of gobs were a bit more wary now. The way he easily dispatched their fellow gob must've shocked them. They moved, taking careful steps to approach him as group. Then one of them cried out, prompting all of them to attack simultaneously.

Dodging a left swing, ducking under a spear stab, then an overhead strike, a right swing — Naruto was slowly losing ground.

Sweat dripped as he parried yet another strike. He had to make space somehow, then a thought hit him, an idea quickly forming in his head. Opening his pouch, he took out a black ball. A smoke screen, he had limited supply but it was necessary.

He threw it on the ground and immediately, smoke came out, blanketing the air in a thick haze. The gobs coughed easily giving away their position. They cried in panic, as the smoke screen blotted out their vision.

Without further delay, he began to move. Slicing and dicing. He used their coughs and cries as beacons. By the end of it, the only ones left were the crossbow gob and the spear gob.

 _His blade bifurcated a man, it's strange, it almost feels like a routine now._

The spear gob widened its eyes at the sight of the dead bodies and cried aloud, charging at him recklessly. Parrying the blow, Naruto broke through its guard, grabbing its head in a headlock, and twisted.

 _SNAP_

The spear gob fell its head lolling back in an unnatural angle.

The crossbow gob recoiled, dropping its weapon in fear. It started crying out something, but he ignored it, dashing forward and covering the distance between them in an instant. Twirling his knife, they clashed. The gob tried to muster a desperate defence but it was futile. He easily maneuvered past its wild swing, driving the kunai on its head. Its skull broke from the force allowing the blade unhindered entry to its brain. It held still for a moment, a sudden seizure wracking its body.

Pulling his blade out, the gob dropped to the ground. Dead.

He felt a sense of relief washed through him, then he raised his guard ready for the next opponent.

But then a sudden tremor wracked the ground as a bone-chilling roar echoed throughout the city. Loud thundering sound stomps shook the ground down. Each step creating a shockwave that reverberated around the area.

The goblins and hobgobs, parted making room for… a monstrosity.

Naruto felt a slight sweat, seeing the creature.

Standing at about eight feet tall, with veiny arms as thick as tree trunks bulging with muscles, hands the size of his head, long tusks jutting out its lips, nose with a large septum piercing and its iconic necklace of shrunken human heads. The Mutilator looked more like a troll than a goblin.

It was clad in tribal armor with a cloak draped over its shoulders made out of a grizzly pelt. The cloak was connected to a single pauldron on its right shoulder made out of a troll skull. Held in its hand was a single-edged crooked longsword.

What it lacked in sharpness more than made up for its size. It was as thick as his shoulder and as long as the creature.

This is bad.

 **"Huu-men"**

 _'It...spoke?'_ Naruto's brows furrowed, there's not a lot that could surprise him, but _this_ definitely did.

 **"Me, Am-Mut."**

So it did speak, its speech pattern was broken, but it did. It introduced itself. Who knew gobs were capable of learning the human language.

Am-mut pointed at him with one of those branch sized things it called fingers.

" **You, Who?"**

It took a bit for the shock to settle, but he quickly shook his head, raising his knife.

"Naruto." he rasped. At this point, he couldn't hide his fatigue, he was beyond exhausted.

It ordered its kin to drop their weapons and circle them, making a makeshift ring with them at the center. It turned toward the crowd, and raise its arms, yelling something in its tongue. The gobs roared back, excitement dancing in their eyes.

Then Am-mut slammed its sword to the ground, sending dust particles in the air. When the dust cloud cleared it spoke.

 **"You, Me, Fight! You, Win, Live!"**

Naruto understood enough of what it wanted. This creature reveled in the struggle of its prey, it wanted to have its prey hope. Give it a chance and crush it. This fight was to decide his fate, whether he lived or died. A duel.

It started slamming its fist on the ground, the crowd matching to its beat. It sent dust particles everywhere, blanketing the area in a cloud of dust. The force of its blows was so strong it was breaking the cement.

When was the last time he fought for his life?

 _Ducking under the strike of an Iwa-nin he countered, driving his blade straight into the man's throat. He dropped like a sack of heap. The man laid there twitching... bleeding out as Naruto charged straight to his next opponent._

The thrill of battle - the struggle of life and death. It's been so long... This fight... it called to him… it _excited_ him. Naruto's eyes dilated, adrenaline once again running through his bloodstream. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears, as he raised his blades, one on each hand.

And they clashed.

Am-mut struck first going for an overhead thrust. Naruto skidded low blocking the strike with both of his blades, running it through the lower edge of the blade. Sparks flew, as he closed in on its legs.

Naruto attempted a swing, only to jump over to the side as he narrowly dodged a knee that would've surely caved his head in. The force the blow was so strong, the wind whipped his hair up.

He narrowed his eyes, realizing the implications.

If he gets hit once, he's dead for sure.

Naruto jumped back creating space between them, beads of sweat dripped down from his brows, his adrenaline was wearing down.

 _'This needs to end now.'_

Reaching into his pouch, and taking out a handful of ninja wire, he took both ends and tied it on on the ring end of the kunai, he did the same for the other.

In a flourish of moves, he spun the thread around him, kunai flying in the air.

Am-mut howled, eyes full of bloodlust. It crouched on all fours, and sprang forward. Charging at straight at him like a bull.

Naruto jumped to the side, throwing a kunai at it. It connected, hitting its left knee, staggering it a bit. However, it shrugged it off, quickly turning around and began its charge anew. He jumped to the side, chucking the other blade at its uninjured right leg. It pierced its right tibia, the blade digging deep into its bones. It roared in anguish, it's furious eyes locked into his as saliva dripped from mouth.

He drew a pair of throwing knives, keeping hold of the wires connected to the kunai. Then he dashed straight toward it, closing the distance between them in an instant.

Am-mut swung its sword, attempting a right swipe. He jumped over its attack and quickly dashed through its legs, swiping the blade on the tendon of its knees.

It grunted, dropping down on all fours. Capitalizing on this, Naruto jumped on the back of its head, driving both of his knives on each side of its thick skull.

 _CLANG_

Naruto's eyes widened in shock as the blades bounced off its skull. The blade easily pierced through the skin but it couldn't break past its skull.

Am-mut roared in anger, and made move to grab him, but he reacted quickly, ducking under its attempt and jumping off its back.

Naruto took a firm grasp of the wires in his hands and pulled. The thread wrapped itself around its form, lockings its arms to its sides, hindering its movements.

Opening his pouch with one hand, Naruto grabbed a handful of throwing knives, one for each finger.

Am-mut seeing what he was planning, howled, panic settling into its features. It clawed at the ground struggling violently against its bindings. But it was futile, ninja wires were meant to hold back chakra reinforced bodies.

Taking aim, Naruto propelled all five blades toward its neck.

It landed true, Am-mut let out a guttural cry as the knives punctured through. It choked, gagging from the blood in its throat.

Naruto took slow steps, approaching its whimpering form. The creature scooted back, eyes wide open in fear. Drawing out another kunai out from his pouch, he readied it in his hands.

 _"Senpai."_

Its eyes darted everywhere in panic, looking for something, anything. It was afraid to die, it made an attempt to say something, but it came of as a gurgle, it clutched at its neck desperately holding onto its last vestige of life.

 _"Senpai."_

There was that voice again, his head began to hurt. He needed to end this _now._

Raising his blade, he prepared to swing—

 _"Se- **npai"**_

 _'What...?'_

Hinata. She appeared, face caked with blood, her mangled torso… sporting a mess of crimson. Bloodshot eyes looking straight at him. She reached out toward him, her hands stopping just a few inches away from touching him.

She gave him a bloodied smile.

 ** _"You're burning"_**

His eyes widened at his mistake.

Feeling a tug, his body lurched forward as the monstrous gob pulled him up, and slammed him to the ground.

Its was filled with bloodlust, teeth set in a snarl. The crowd gave an exhilarated roar and started chanting excitedly.

 **"MECH MEL! MECH MEL!"**

Pain filled his senses, blood coming out of his lips. There was a sharp sensation on his sides, one of his ribs had probably punctured his lungs. Blood seeped down from his head in copious amounts, covering his eyes in crimson.

Naruto mustered every ounce of strength he had left, pressing hard against its vice grip, pouring all the remaining strength in a desperate attempt to pull himself free — but the the creature was relentless. It wouldn't budge a single inch.

By this point, his thoughts were muddled in pain, he couldn't think anymore. His strength withered as darkness crept up onto the edge of his vision.

 _"Tell me, boy, are you afraid to die?" he asked, a strange look in his eyes._

 _"We all die someday…"_

He felt himself give way, his eyes dulling as the last trace of consciousness left hi—

 ** _"Pathetic"_**

That voice…

The fox…? No...

Suddenly, raw power surged inside him, reenergizing his unused coils and triggering his healing factor. His coils tingled in pleasure almost like how one would feel when drinking water in a desert. His thoughts returned, his senses amplified,

' _C-chakra_...'

It was euphoric. Like a missing puzzle was just returned to him. He was complete.

Grasping the hands of Am-mut, he easily broke the the vice grip of the goblin. It looked at him incredulously, disbelief written all over its features.

Fear settled in and it tried to make a break for it, turning around in a desperate attempt to escape its fate.

Big mistake.

Naruto went through the hand seals of one of the most notorious assassination jutsu.

[Kaze no Yaiba]

The blade of wind cut straight onto its neck, like hot knife through butter. Its head toppled to the ground, blood spurting from its neck — mouth stuck open in a silent scream of terror.

The head rolled at his feet, reaching down he tugged at its septum piercing, it came loose with a soft squelch sound. He also grabbed the makeshift necklace it had, putting both in his pouch.

 **"KhrUun! KhrUun! KhrUun! Morac!"**

Naruto raised his guard, ready to defend himself, but to his surprise the group of goblins went past him, throwing themselves on Am-mut's side.

His head throbbed, shaking his head as visions once again filled his thoughts.

 _The smell of rot filled the air, numerous bodies posed in awkward angles. Piled one over the other._

They howled something in their tongue, tears falling from their eyes. All around him, gobs and hobgobs alike were hunched forward.

 _"Don't you have any ounce of mercy in you?!" she roughly pulled at the collar of his jacket, looking straight into his eyes._

Shaking his head, Naruto saw a little green thing zip past. It was a small gob, around two feet tall, holding onto the hand of the dead chieftain.

 _"Your a monster… you monster!" she yelled, tears running down her cheeks._

It looked at the corpse, tears flowing from its eyes. Then it turned, locking eyes with him. Its eyes turning cold, almost like it was imprinting himself into its thoughts.

 _"Monster!"_

Surprisingly, the gate opened. The gobs honored its chief's wishes it seems. He wasn't about to press his luck though, he needed to leave now.

 _"I see."_

He was lucky to find shelter in a cave just a short distance away from Alterna.

 _"...Live…promise...me"_

And only then did he let the sweet embrace of darkness take him.

 _"...I will…"_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Managed to scrounge up this chapter before exams.**

 **Updated: 11/16/18**

* * *

XXXX

* * *

 _The moon shone a glaring red. Its rays of light reaching down from the heavens like an ethereal deity casting judgment on its inhabitants. Exposing the ruined battleground beneath it._

 _It was as silent as the grave, the air reeked of rot, bodies littered the field — blood covered the surface in an endless sea of red._

 _Dead blue eyes surveyed the field, scanning for any signs of movement._

…

…

…

 _His grip faltered — the sword in his hand dropped to the ground with a dull clang. His body ached, sharp jolts of lightning occasionally running through his broken elbow, his vision was blurry, his lungs burned._

 _A breath escaped his lips, "We...won."_

 _"Let's go home, senpai..." A voice. Female. Echoed from behind, shattering the fragile spell of silence blanketing the field._

 _Home, the word sounded foreign to him. A place where you were accepted — wanted. He had no home. Weapons like him didn't get that luxury._

 _He turned to her, giving her a sharp look, "You disobeyed my orders."_

 _Pale pink lips twitched upwards, curving up into a small smile - exhausted but beautiful lavender orbs looking at him with warmth, "Hai."_

 _"I told you to leave me…"_

 _His fists clenched. Lips curling down to a frown. He took a few steps toward her, eyes narrowed - the weight of his gaze bearing down on her._

 _"I know," she replied, her gaze falling to the ground._

 _"You could've compromised the mission,"_

 _"I know..."_

 _"There was no need to endanger your life any further,"_

 _"I know..."_

 _He stopped - A hair's breadth away from her. His warm breath hitting against her skin._

 _"I should report you for insubordination."_

 _"I know," she paused, giving thought to her next words, "but... I can't… I can't leave you alone."_

 _A spark ignited inside of him. An intense heat burning within his chest. Something tugged at him, he had a sudden urge to yell at her. He wanted to - but he didn't._

 _Brows furrowing together, he asked, "Why?"_

 _Her eyes raised, lavender orbs locking with his. She raised an arm. Her middle and index finger extended toward him._

…

 _Soft fingers pressed against his forehead, the pale digits sending warmth, encompassing his cold frame._

 _"Baka," she gave a quiet chuckle. Shaking her head at him, her beautiful blue locks swaying about, she continued, "we're comrades, senpai."_

 _"...Comrades." he tested. This was a first. He had never been addressed as such._

 _She nodded at him and continued "...and comrades never abandon each other... no matter what..." Her pale hands clutched at her chest, right above her heart. "So, please... learn to lean on me, atleast a little."_

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Naruto released a breath of air as he felt the sweet numbing effects of the alcohol take hold of his senses.

It'd been over a week since he turned over the bounty for Am-mut. Brittany gave him a light scolding for taking the quest without a group and he was prohibited from hunting future bounties alone, with the penalty of losing the reward if he chooses to disobey.

It was worth it at least, he was able to repair his tanto with the gold from the quest, and he found out that the fox could still supply him with chakra… when it wanted to anyway.

"Hey look, that's him right?"

"What? You mean the guy who soloed _that_ bounty?"

"Shh! Not so loud. I heard-"

Ignoring the whispers of the patrons in the tavern, he propped his hands on the countertop, resting his brows on his knuckles.

His recent exploit made him the talk of the town apparently. Some called him a fluke while some called him a prodigy in leagues with the likes of 'Soma of the Daybreakers', whoever that was.

Others approached him asking him how he was able to infiltrate a heavily fortified city, assassinate one of its key figures and come out with his life intact. He gave them all the same cryptic reply of "I got lucky."

It was true after all, if not for the Kyuubi's timely intervention he would've…

He frowned, looking at the faint scar that marred the junction of his elbow all the way up to the edge of his wrist. Am-mut's grip had almost completely crushed his arm. Of course the fox's chakra healed it but this time a scar remained.

A reminder of what would've surely been his demise.

Nothing but luck.

"Naru-chii!"

A loud cheerful call broke his thoughts. The owner of the voice was a honey-eyed man with a slicked-back messy brown hair running past his shoulders. He had a slight playboy charm accentuating his looks.

Naruto gave a small nod of greeting as the man took the empty seat right next to his. "Kikkawa-san."

"Maa, maaa, there you go again, being so uptight as always. Just relax, man. Enjoy the night ~!" Kikkawa sang lightly, as he gave a light pat on Naruto's shoulder.

Kikkawa was one of the few who'd approached him and inquired about his bounty kill. After getting to know Naruto, Kikkawa had taken a bit of a shine to him, hanging out with him on Sherry's tavern on free days.

Though Kikkawa could be a bit… noisy, he didn't particularly dislike him.

Apparently, Kikkawa was part of the batch of volunteer soldiers that came after his. Kikkawa had the displeasure of being one of the 'odd ones' that got left out and didn't find a group to work with. It worked to his fortune though as it led to him being more sociable and amicable toward every other adventurer. He'd wager a bet that Kikkawa knew almost every adventurer in Alterna.

And he would capitalize on that.

"Kikkawa-san, I need a favor."

"Oh?" his eyes opened a bit in surprise, his face turned to Naruto, amusement laced in his voice, "What kind of favor?"

Naruto fished out a folded parchment in his pocket and unfurled it on the countertop.

 **Troll Camp Extermination!**

 **A group of trolls have made settlement near the bridge by the western river. Their numbers are estimated to be around the twenties range. Witnesses' state that they have sighted a warlock among the group of trolls. Proceed with caution!**

 **Reward for confirmed kill: 3 gold pieces and 50 silvers.**

 **For more information contact, Bri of the Red Moon Army.**

 **Warning! This is a party quest, do not venture alone.**

…

"I am at an impasse as I lack... the necessary… decorum to find myself a suitable party member, though I am in need of one."

"Huh?" Kikkawa's eyes opened in surprise, glancing down at the parchment, and back to him again, "Only one? ...You sure about that?"

Nodding his head in affirmation, Naruto asked, "Can I ask for your assistance on this matter?"

Blinking away his shock, Kikkawa clutched at his chin and replied, "Hmm… I'm not sure... do you have any preferences?"

He didn't have to think, "I don't need them to fight. If possible, I'd prefer someone who can heal."

Kikkawa pursed his lips in thought, then a few seconds later snapped his hand as a proverbial light bulb alighted his thoughts, "Hmm… Let me — Ah! I _think_ I know someone who _miiight_ be willing to join. Yeah, I think she'll be fine with it...then again… she's a bit of a spitfire. Meh! I'm _sure_ you'll get along! ...I think at least." he chuckled awkwardly.

Giving him a light nod of thanks, Naruto said, "That's fine. Thank you Kikkawa-san."

"Uh-uh-uh," Kikkawa shook his head, waving a finger in front of him. He curled his hand in a cupping motion.

Naruto rolled his eyes, fishing some silver coins in his pocket and dumping it on his greedy friend's palms.

Kikkawa gave him a megawatt smile, counting his coins, "Okay! Just meet me at the market square tomorrow at noon."

Naruto nodded his head in thanks taking a sip of his tankard of mead.

The rest of the night simply went off without a hitch.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"...but like I said Merri-chii, I know for sure Naru-chii will blow your expectations!" Kikkawa said, nodding to himself with his arms crossed over his chest.

Merry rolled her eyes at the annoying man, her cheeks curled down into an angry scowl. For the past ten minutes, Kikkawa had been trying -and failing- embellish this "Naru-chii". Telling her how he was the _"ultimate"_ party member and how he'd definitely _"wow"_ her out of her icy shell.

She highly doubted it, her opinions about the man was already set low. Not only was he late for the meetup but his request seemed incredibly stupid to her.

Apparently, he planned to attack a troll camp all by himself. She wondered whether the guy's an idiot or is in suicide watch — if it wasn't for Kikkawa's _compelling_ words about how "Naru-chii" would be the one doing all the fighting and that all she had to do was wait for him and heal him, then she wouldn't have come.

The sound of a chair screeching brought her back to reality as Kikkawa abruptly stood up and waved his arms in the air like a lunatic.

"Naru-chii! Over here!" he beckoned.

It was about time. The walking chatterbox had been grating her nerves for the past few minutes and she was nearing her last legs. Turning around, she was just about to give the newcomer a taste of her ice-cold glare, only to freeze, eyes wide open. It took her brain a second to process exactly who it was standing before her.

His eyes were the same, retaining the same dull shade that sent shivers down her spine whenever she looked at it. The tattered rags he wore was gone, replaced by a brown cloak that enshrouded his form. He wore an ebony dyed leather armor underneath it with a sheathed tanto attached to his back.

She stood still, stiff as a rock, her heartbeat reverberating throughout her system. She swallowed a bit, her thoughts finally catching up to her. _"Blonde hair, blue eyes. Naru-chii... Naru… Naru-to? N-no...it's 'him'."_

Naruto regarded her with a look of indifference.

How ironic, to think out of everyone Kikkawa would choose Hinata's look alike. Though there was some different… her eyes.

' _Oh. I see.'_

Gone were the naive and gentle blues, replaced by chips of cold ice. Her innocence gone, shattered by the trials of life.

Though he already knew, he asked Kikkawa just as a formality, "I assume this is her?"

Kikkawa shook his head in disapproval, throwing an arm around his shoulder, "Naru-chii, Naru-chii," he chastised while waving his index finger. "That's not how you treat beautiful ladies, yah know? Be polite to Merri-chii will yah?"

Naruto blinked and turned toward Merry, he gave her a subtle bow in apology, "Apologies."

The monotone way he said it made so that you couldn't tell if he was sincere or not, the blank look on his face didn't help with it either.

Realizing she was being addressed to and that she'd been staring at him with obvious fear in her eyes, Merry bit her cheek, schooling her face back to its usual cold look.

What was there to fear? Death?

There's nothing else left for her to lose. The world had already taken so much from her; her friends, all three of them. She even came close to death herself. There was nothing left to fear. She's not afraid to die, not anymore. She wouldn't fear him. She wasn't afraid.

She couldn't tell what kind of apology that was but it left her feeling irritated more than anything.

Raising her head, high enough that she was looking down at him, she gave him a condescending look, and spoke with a prickly tone, "It's fine, I don't really care what you do as long as I get my share."

Naruto stared at her couple seconds unblinking and nodded his head, replying with a curt, "Understood"

"Where are we heading?" she asked.

"The west river," Naruto paused, "Merchants say that most assaults happen in the path near that area."

Merry gave him a nod and picked up her pack. She slung it over her shoulder, fastening the straps as she did so.

"Merry-san," she heard him call out. Their eyes met, she felt the weight of his stare bearing down on her, despite her earlier conviction, she felt her joints stiffen at that gaze.

"Follow my orders for the duration of this quest, or I cannot guarantee your life."

Letting out a dismissive snort to mask her feeling, she spoke, "W-whatever, get going. I'll follow you."

Naruto paused for a moment, keeping his eyes locked on her.

Those eyes... There was absolutely something wrong with those eyes. It left goosebumps on the back of her neck. She could feel him reading her, exploring every hidden inch of her soul. It unnerved her. Relief hit her when he finally broke his gaze and gave her a nod, wordlessly turning toward the direction of the city gate.

Merry let out the breath she was holding, taking another hesitating glance at the blonde's back. After, righting herself, she followed soon after.

All the while, Kikkawa was sweating, thinking to himself that maybe… just maybe this wasn't a good idea.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

It was a simple extermination quest. A troll settlement had been established a tad too close to Alterna's trade routes. They were to eliminate all settlers and burn the encampment to discourage future would be migrators from settling in.

The trip toward their destination was interesting enough for her.

Even if the man was creepy, suspicious and made her hair stand on end, she wouldn't deny that he intrigued her.

At certain times he'd stop and pluck something on the ground. He'd pause and observe it for a moment then continue on.

It was called...track, an ability that enabled hunters to look for signs of their target.

It aroused her curiosity, he was using a skill exclusive only to hunters, yet he's a thief. It didn't make sense. How could h—

Her heart skipped a beat, suddenly finding his hand clamped at her mouth. He tugged, making her lose her balance. She felt the whipping of the winds on her skin, a chill running through as she plummeted down, her back hitting his chest.

Her breathing quickened, heart pulsing rapidly. Her gut twisted itself together into a knot, dread worming its way up. No-no-no-no! She knew it! This whole thing was a trap, he'd had his eyes on her ever since they got here and now he has her, all alone.

 _'I'm not going to die like this!'_

Her eyes blazed with anger, survival instincts kicking in, squashing the fear she felt inside. If she was going to die, she was going down fighting. Opening her mouth she chomped at his hand, the taste of iron hitting her senses as blood seeped through the wound.

But not even a grunt escaped him.

Merry bit even harder, her adrenaline flow—

A guttural groan that sounded like a cross between a lion and a horse, echoed throughout the clearing, a short distance away from the crevice they were leaning against.

At this she stopped struggling, and he loosened his hold on her, unclasping his hand from her lips. Slowly, ever so slowly, she turned, looking up at him from behind, meeting his confused gaze.

 _'Oh…'_

Realizing her blunder, she winced and was about to utter a small apology only for his hand to clasp her lips again. He lifted a single finger, the universal gesture of silence.

She felt like dying in a ditch from the embarrassment, though she didn't show it. Instead, she gave him a nod, clearly telling him she understood.

He gave her a nod back in reply, uncovering her mouth. Her eyes followed him, trailing after his wounded hand, as he planted his back to the cave fissure. Then, with his good hand, he grabbed hold of his tanto and...

"Gurrkh!"

A flash, Merry only saw a flash. Then something hit the floor, rolling all the way up to her foot. Taking a closer look, she flinched as her eyes locked at the dismembered troll head, mouth open in a hollow scream, blood spurting out of the stump.

Killing. This world was all about killing. You had to kill to survive, those who couldn't, well, they didn't live very long. The first time her group took a life, a goblin who had strayed too far from Damuro - she felt sick to her stomach. She took a life. Something that could feel, love, hope...dream, — she took all those things away.

At first, Merry didn't think she'd be able live this way, but eventually, she grew numb to it. In the end, survival mattered the most. The strong lived, the weak died.

She almost jumped when she felt Naruto's breath whisp past her ear in a whisper, "Merry-san, stay here."

" _Wait!"_

She moved to stop him, she wanted to at the very least heal his wound and buff him, but her voice came out too late, he was already a short distance away from whisper range. She sucked on her teeth, resisting the urge to facepalm.

 _'He's a mess. What kind of idiot goes into a fight unbuffed?'_

It was Party Basics 101. Let your priest buff you before engaging in combat. There was absolutely _no reason_ to head into fights unbuffed given the opportunity. Most priests would've thrown a fit for what he'd done.

Merry, of course, was too _dignified_ for that and settled with clenching her teeth, letting her anger fizzle down into small embers.

She poked her head out, looking for signs of her companion. The scene before her made her breath hitch in her throat.

Seven bodies laid still on the ground, blood pooling beneath them. Each cut was precise, hitting a single vital point. Their weapons were sheathed, all of them. These trolls… they weren't even given a chance to draw their weapons.

Naruto had dispatched the patrol guards outside the encampment, but where could h—

She caught sight of a silhouette traversing _on_ the side of one of the wooden walls. Tied around his waist was a rope connected to a knife stuck on the edge of the wall.

With a final pull, he made it to the top of the wall. Immediately after, he unsheathed his blade and jumped off the edge toward the inside of the camp.

 _'...He's insane!'_

A chill ran down her spine as ferocious shouts emerged from the encampment. She didn't know whether to help or not. Though some may call her cold, mean and harsh, she wasn't heartless. She wouldn't let just anyone die but what hope does she have against a whole village of trolls? Judging from the noise, there must be at least more than twenty of them in there. At this point...

She felt a weight of dread drop in her gut. _"He's dead..."_

The sound of blade hitting flesh reverberated throughout the area, one after another, the cries of his victims accompanied the sound with each slash.

Eventually the angry yells were reduced to small whimpers of fear...then it stopped and everything went quiet.

' _What?'_

Merry stood frozen in place, eyes wide, unable to comprehend what just happened.

…

…

...

Smoke came out of the fort and the scent of burnt wood filled her nostrils. The leaves behind her rustled, and a blood-spattered Naruto appeared.

Her eyes darted over him looking for something, ready to heal his wounds...

 _'D-did he really just...'_ her throat dried up, realizing that the only wound she had was the one she unintentionally inflicted, "...H-how…" she gawked, the words escaping her, eyes wide in disbelief. _'N-no wounds… just what kind of monster is he?'_

Raising an eyebrow, Naruto made a 'move-on' motion with his head, "Let's go, we'll split the bounty in Alterna."

He strode onwards, bloody sack in hand, going on as if nothing had happened. As if he didn't just single-handedly exterminated an entire colony of creatures.

Glancing back at the destruction left behind, Merry beheld the scene. Smoke covered the camp, she couldn't tell how many were dead but judging from the screams she heard, there was a handful. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as the smell of smoke, blood, feces and urine mixed in the air.

 _'Five minutes...It took him only a little over five minutes to kill all of them.'_

Her shoulders shuddered a little as she followed after him.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

After splitting up the bounty, Merry left him alone with nary a word, nor a goodbye. He didn't mind, he preferred it that way. He had always been a loner by nature. Most ROOT agents functioned well alone and he was no exception. Hinata had been the only one who could keep up with him as far as he could recall.

He's currently on his way to the tavern to waste the day away. It had been a routine for him lately. Go out, get drunk, sleep, repeat. There was reason for it of course. He'd been hearing _her_ voice lately, whispering to him, condemning him, reminding him of his past deeds — he'd been ignoring it as best as he could, but it wasn't easy. The bags on the rim of his eyes is proof of that.

There was something different today though cause, for some reason, _she_ remained quiet. This wasn't normal. He was able to fight unhindered today, there was no visions, nor whispers. He didn't know why but he put it on the back burner for now. Right now, all he wanted to do was rest.

He pushed the doors open and propped himself on his usual seat. He wanted to splurge a bit today — he did make a gold coin and a couple silvers today.

Ordering a bowl of wolf meat stew and a mug of mead. He made himself comfortable. Taking a whiff, the homey and spicey scent in the air sent a pleasant tingle in his brain. Sherry's tavern had become a place of solace for him, a place where he could eat in peace, relax and calm himself.

He didn't have to wait for long till his order came. He couldn't help the light rumble that escaped his gullet. The recent day's activity had left him famished. Grabbing his utensils, his eyes alighted in delight as he dug into the bowl of stew, the spices inside mingled together in harmony. The meat was succulent, soft, tender. It felt like it was melting in his mouth.

He couldn't help but notice how he'd spoiled himself lately. He hadn't experienced this kind of luxury before. The only food he'd eaten was the bland rations provided in ROOT. So, he felt a little bit guilty of how much money he'd spent on food lately.

A bell chimed signaling someone's entry. His gaze shifted to the entrance and there she was again... Merry. She paused for a bit and looked at his direction.

He nodded at her in greeting but she turned her head away, completely ignoring him and headed straight for the bar.

Merry sat on an open seat, a fair distance away from everyone. She leaned forward, burrowing her head in her arms. It's like a routine to her by now. Her party mates would try to get to know her and try to bond with her; she'd give them a cold shoulder in reply until they gave up and left her alone.

 _Alone._

A bitter chuckle escaped her lips.

For as long as she could remember, she had always had friends. People to talk to, people who cared. She was easy to get along with, her beauty and charm certainly helped with that. A wistful look crossed her features, remembering the times when Ogu teased her about it. He'd overexaggerate, telling her about how his heart raced every time she showed off her pearly whites. Mutsumi would then bonk him in the head, calling him an idiot and Hayashi and Michiki would be laughing good-naturedly at his expense.

She loved them — her party, her friends, her family...

When she lost them. Her world shattered. Along with her heart. It hurt.. it hurt so much. The scar it left her was deep, so deep that she shunned everyone around her. The notion of getting close to someone only to lose them later frightened her. She didn't want that. Once was enough.

And so, she closed herself off. Becoming prickly, distant, cold — Encasing her heart in an icy shell to protect herself from the pain. Feelings of empathy, friendship and love were lost to her. No one will get to her and no one will hurt her, never again.

It didn't matter if she became hated for it. It didn't matter if they shunned her. What did it matter to her? It was still easy to join parties, priests are always in high demand after all. Most creatures in Alterna knew that the priest was the backbone of the party, so they were often targeted and have the highest death rate of all classes.

 _'Priest…'_ A half-hearted chuckle broke past her, the spite dripping off her lips. _'What kind of priest lets her friends die… Trash. Useless. I'm a useless priest.'_ She leaned forward, burrowing her head in her arms even further.

Naruto's eyes lingered on her before dropping back to his meal. She seemed adamant in her decision to ignore him, so he figured he'd do her a favor and give her space.

Resting his forehead on his knuckles, he took note of the scab mark left by her sudden bite from earlier.

 _My social ability still proves to be inadequate.'_

Hinata had always teased him about his inability to understand social cues and it frustrated him to no end. He had tried studying about it in the library, heck, he had even asked her to teach him, to no avail. She'd always encourage him, telling him that it'd come in time. For now, he decided he still had a long way to go considering he messed up with something as simple as a greet—

"-aid leave me alone, you swine!"

The sound of glass shattering rang throughout the tavern.

...

He turned his head toward the source.

Merry was hunched over the counter, breathing heavily while holding a broken mug. A beefy man stood before her, cradling his bleeding face where shards of glass punctured through.

The man shook his head, wiping the blood of his face, "Why you-?! Don't you know who I am, you skank?! Y-you—! I'll make you pay for this!" The man yelled, making his way toward her, with loud stomps, teeth barred in an angry snarl.

Merry grabbed her staff, preparing to bash his head in only to freeze at the sight of the person behind the drunk.

The drunkard turned around to face whatever it was she was looking at and found a menacing looking blonde with unnerving blue eyes.

The blonde walked past him without even a side glance, acting like he didn't exist.

"What the hell do you want blo—"

Naruto interrupted him, "—Merry-san, I ask as your party member, do you need assistance?"

The drunkard clenched his fists, digging his nails into his flesh and turned his gaze toward her saying in a loud voice, "Oi, girly, tell your boyfriend to buzz off!"

She was about to refute that statement but was interrupted as the drunk attempted to strike with a cheap shot only for Naruto to duck under the strike, grab the back of the guy's head, and drive it straight through the table — sending splinters flying in the air.

Naruto kept his grip on the guy's twitching body for abit, then he stood up, dusting himself off. He turned around, making his way over toward the entrance and raising an arm in a parting wave behind him, "We'll meet at the same spot. See you tomorrow." he said to her.

The door opened and a party of six came in. The leader, a man wearing a full set of black scale armor paused and took stock of the blonde.

Naruto brushed past the armored guy, giving a quiet, "Excuse me," as he made his way out, the door clicking shut behind him.

…

…

…

The man shook himself and sat at a table with his group, a look of intrigue crossing his face.

Hushed voices bursted off the lips of the patrons, gossips running off from one mouth to the next as the people talked about the event that had transpired.

All the while, Merry had kept her eyes locked on the entryway where he had left.

XXXX

"Good morning…" he stood at the same spot meeting spot from before. With that same irritating impassive look on his face.

Crossing her arms in front of her, she said, "I didn't ask for your help,"

His head tilted to the side, a clueless look on his face.

"Pardon?"

Her lips pressed together, a slight frown marred her face, "...Last night, I didn't need your help."

His eyes lit up with understanding, then his brows furrowed, "Ah… I'm confused...did you want him to hurt you…?"

Her eyebrow twitched. The nerve! She couldn't tell if he was actually confused or if he was making a mockery out of her but either-or it made her fume.

"I had it under control!" she snapped, giving him a piercing stare. She shook her head, "Look, I understand you were only trying to help," Her brows narrowed down, "but don't interfere with my business... Got it?"

He paused, then nodded his head at her.

"So, who's our next target?"

She received a parchment from him, after skimming through it, she gave him an incredulous look.

"Are you an idiot?"

"I assure you that I am not," he replied.

"You want to take on a Monster Rex... with only the two of us!" she exclaimed, she's usually a lot more level headed than this, but this… this was just ridiculous.

"You don't need to fight it. I only need you to heal me after, in case I get injured." Naruto pointed out.

Rubbing an aching migraine from her temple, she shook her head at him, "That's not the point,"

"...What do you mean then?"

"It takes at the very _least_ ten soldiers to down a Monster Rex, we'll need even more if we plan on taking an Ogre type Rex."

Naruto hummed in thought, then he turned to face her, "It's fine."

"Haven't you listened to anything I've said?" she debated whether he misheard her, or just severely overestimated his own capabilities.

Don't get her wrong, she _knew_ he was strong, he wouldn't be able to solo a troll camp if he wasn't, but taking on a Monster Rex with only two members was suicide. There have been multiple twenty men groups who've hunted a Monster Rex and _failed_.

"Merry-san," he looked her in the eyes. His eyes filled with assurance "it's fine."

Merry pinched the bridge of her nose, her lips lowering down to a scowl. "Look, just… I don't need you needlessly throwing your life away. I—"

"—I won't." He said.

Blue locked with azure as his eyes caught hers. It surprised her, she didn't think those dull blue eyes were capable of expressing any emotion yet alone exude such confidence. It made him...human for once. It assured her, it compelled her, telling her that all would be fine. It made her want to believe in him — but she couldn't.

She had lost her party for the same reason after all. Complacency. Victory made them ignorant of the fact that they've only been winning by paper-thin margins. Winning and losing was the difference between life and death. There were no redos, she couldn't afford to make that same mistake again, no matter what she felt.

Merry crossed her arms together, her lips setting itself into a firm line.

"No," she said, "If you want to go, go. But you'll have to find someone else," a pause, her voice lowered almost like a whisper this time, ". _..I don't want your blood in my hands._ "

 _'Luminaris knows it's already stained too much.'_ she thought bitterly.

Naruto's eyes jerked up surprise, a memory surging through his thoughts.

 _"No, I refuse. Find a different way." her lavender orbs raised up to meet his, she stood firm, unwavering._

Despite being denied, he felt something evoke within him. An unusual kindle of life lit up in his eyes. She reminded him of something he'd forgotten. Something...important. Closing his eyes, a ghost of a smile flitted across his lips, "Fine."

Misunderstanding his reply, her lips tightened to a purse. She resigned herself, slipping an indifferent mask on her face, "I understand, Goodbye.", she said it in the most casual way possible. It didn't bother her anyway. He was just another number to add to the long list of people she'd burnt bridges with.

Turning around, she got in a few steps forward before his voice cut her off, "Merry-san, where are you going?"

"H-huh?" She scrunched her brow at him, confusion laced in her voice, she asked "Didn't you want me to leave?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow at her and said, "No, I was going to ask you which quest you'd want to do instead."

Merry had a sudden urge to hide in a hole. She colored up, her cheeks radiating heat. She looked away from him, a cold glare settling down on her flushed face. "W-why didn't you say so then?!" she said, her voice betrayed her looks.

She stomped her way past him in the direction of the nearest request board. Trying her damndest not to show the embarrassed flush on her cheeks.

A pleasant tingle bloomed in his chest. It was warm but it also stung a little. He knew not what it was, but he knew what caused it.

 _"I can't follow your orders...not if it means losing your life." she gripped her fists tightly, defying him._

* * *

XXXX

* * *

The fire crackled, becoming bright and vivid, flames licked the wood as the campfire ignited. Naruto leaned back, idly poking at the burning twigs with a stick. He craned his neck back to look at his blue-haired companion.

Merry had just finished setting up her tent, ready to turn in for the night. He had volunteered to keep watch while she slept. He didn't mind. He'd gone for longer days without sleep. Also, It gave him a valid excuse to avoid the nightmares that have been plaguing his dreams.

They had taken a request to hunt a gnoll pack leader called Albino. Like most gnolls, Albino lived in the wild plains of Aravakia. Gnolls functioned much like any pack would - they lived together, ate together, and hunted together. There were multiple packs of gnolls that wandered the plains and every pack had a single leader to command them.

Unfortunately, they didn't encounter Albino's group today. It took them about five hours to get from Alterna to here and they had spent the remaining daylight scouring the plains for the gnoll leader. So, rather than waste time going back and forth from here to Alterna, they decided to camp here for the night.

Hearing a light shuffle to the side, he turned to see Merry sitting a short distance from him. Her head turned away from him, looking at him from the corner of her eye. She opened her mouth, and closed it. She was struggling, looking like she wanted to say something.

He asked, "Can I help you?"

Merry's gaze dropped to the ground. Eyes narrowed a bit. She seemed angry, the cold scowl on her face attested to that, but there was a hint of uncertainty in her eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

For a moment, she gave her best impression of a fish, having had enough she turned her gaze aside glaring at the dirt.

"L-listen, If you need rest, w-wake me up," she silently cursed at herself, tripping over her words, "I don't want you falling asleep and leave us defenseless."

Naruto paused, his half-lidded eyes blinked once and spoke in a quiet voice, "...Ok."

…

Merry fidgeted on her spot.

…

"Merry-san," Naruto said, his voice startled her a bit. Turning to face him, her eyes widened seeing the corners of his cheeks creased up a bit, "Thank you… but I really don't mind…" he said.

' _...a smile...he smiled?'_ her eyes locked on him in wonderment.

The sincerity laced in his voice caught her by surprise. His smile...even more so. For a moment, he didn't look like the unemotional machine she perceived him to be. There was something different with him. She couldn't put a finger on it, but it was there.

Realizing that she'd been staring, Merry shook her head and began to say, "Goo…" she caught herself, mouth parted halfway — it morphed to a scowl and she turned around, briskly walking inside of her tent, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Naruto guessed that she meant to say "Goodnight.", he didn't understand why she didn't finish saying it but simply wrote it off as something he couldn't understand due to his lack of social awareness.

He leaned back. Eyes gazing up the night sky. The moon's red gleam still uneased him. It didn't feel natural. Abnormal. Not that he's one to talk. He's the very embodiment of abnormality. A person who can't discern from his emotions. He couldn't tell whether he was a tool masquerading as a man, or a man who had become a tool.

His eyes drifted closed, letting his senses take ahold of him. Meditating had always been one of his favori— His eyes snapped open just in time to catch the shaft of an arrow, a tip away from piercing his pupil.

A bone-chilling laughter permeated throughout the camp.

The blonde shinobi unsheathed his blade. Blade poised to defend himself, he slowly moved backwards to the tent entrance. He was just about to call out for Merry, but he didn't need to as she bursted out of the tent weapon in hand. Her hair was disheveled, out of its usual ponytail, her blue locks framing her back.

Merry raised her staff up in a guarded position, "How many?", she asked, an edge in her voice, cold and serious.

"I counted three, but I believe there's more," he replied.

His blue orbs kept vigilant watch over his surroundings, he couldn't see much, the tall grass of the plains providing camouflage for his opponents. Seeing movement, he turned around so that they were back to back, covering both directions.

"Get ready," he said. Merry tightened her hold on her staff, her eyes darting from side to side, looking for their foes.

A branch snapped to his left.

The blonde's hand blurred, he withdrew a throwing knife and chucked it at the source of the sound.

A loud yelp echoed throughout the plains as the knife punctured flesh. A figure charged toward his right. Turning to face the creature, he struck with a swift left swing of his blade.

His eyes widened in surprise when his opponent ducked under the strike. It made to counter with an upward slash of its claws and he prepared to block only for the blunt end of Merry's staff to smack its face.

It staggered back with a yelp, holding its bruised muzzle.

He got a clear look of his opponent. He couldn't tell how tall it was as it was on all fours, crouched on its hind legs, if he were to guess it'd stand at about 7 feet in height. Its head looked like that of a hyena's. Spots and stripes marked its greenish grey skin. Over its head is a reddish grey mane. It held a scimitar and wore light leather armor.

"Gnolls," Merry said, narrowing her eyes, "they're agile, flexible and have great reflex, be careful."

Naruto nodded his head, a frown forming on his face, he had gotten rusty.

For the last few months, he'd only been fighting goblins, his recent troll raid being the only exception. Contrary to popular belief, fighting doesn't always improve your skills. It can in fact, hinder it especially if you've only been fighting opponents who fight with the same style. Due to his inexperience, he hadn't expected the gnoll to move the way it did. Its movement was more like that of a beast than a man.

Merry then formed a hexagon with her hand and chanted, "O light, under the divine grace of Lord Luminous… [BLAME]." She threw her palm out toward the gnoll.

A bright beam of light connected causing it to spasm. Seeing the opportunity, Naruto closed the distance between them and swung — severing the gnoll's neck.

He jumped back to his previous position behind Merry. Eyes waiting for their foes' next move. He gave her a side glance, "Interesting spell."

Merry felt the corners of her mouth twitch upward, before pursing her lips together and prickly said, "Pay attention." She raised her staff up, blocking a spear strike, narrowly avoiding getting skewered in the head.

The spear gnoll gave a shrill cry as a tanto pierced its front, stabbing straight through its heart. Naruto yanked the sword upwards, tearing through its shoulder. The gnoll dropped to the ground, dead — blood spooling beneath its corpse.

Feeling the wind shift behind him, Naruto swung himself to the left. An arrow landing on his previous position a few milliseconds after. Followed by another, and another, and another — Naruto had to go on the defensive, dodging and skidding on the ground as arrows continued to rain on him.

Their opponents let out another bout of their annoying laughter. Their shill voices reverberating throughout the field.

"Naruto!" Merry called out to him. Beckoning for him to come to her, the blonde complied and dashed toward her, returning to his spot behind her.

"Cover me," she said. Naruto nodded his head, keeping a firm grip on his sword.

She narrowed her eyes, chanting, "O light, under the divine grace of Lord Luminous… [PNEUMA]."

A mystical blue-green cloud appeared beneath them, bright green smoke like fumes emitting from it. An arrow flew toward the two, Naruto prepared to intercept it but it, dissolved to nothingness as soon as it touched the fumes.

"This spell blocks any ranged physical attacks." Merry said, "As long as we stay inside this field, their attacks are harmless."

Their foes made a few more attempts to breach the spell with their arrows, then realizing how futile its efforts were, stopped the barrage. Two gnolls emerged from within the tall grass. One wielded a short-sword and the other had a steel spiked mace, both creatures had a crossbow strapped to their back, and a quiver of bolts strapped by their hips.

The sword gnoll let out a howl and charged at the two, its companion following in tow. Naruto dashed forward meeting them in a clash.

Naruto's blade met the gnoll's short-sword with a resounding clang. Sparks flew as both blades grinded against each other. He weaved around a mace strike, keeping his sword locked against the sword-gnoll, and gave a harsh kick to the mace-gnoll's knee. The bones broke with a repulsive crack. The mace-gnoll shrieked falling to the ground on its front, cradling its injured knee.

Its companion tried to help its injured friend only for a beam of light to hit it. It fell to its knees, dazed and confused. It looked up just in time to see a sword descending on its head.

A wet squelch signified its death as Naruto's tanto split its skull into two.

The mace-gob, seeing its companion meet a brutal demise, quivered and tried to scream but gurgled blood instead as a knife landed on its throat. Silencing it.

Naruto and Merry, kept their stances, waiting for any other threats.

Finding none, Merry dropped her guard down and approached the nearest corpse, looking to loot any possible valuables.

Naruto remained guarded. His instincts were acting up. There was a strange sense of foreboding, like he forgot something important… his eyes widened in realization.

Feeling a presence behind her, Merry whirled around, and froze staring with wide eyes as a giant white-skinned gnoll with a knife lodged in its eye, materialized in front of her, axe poised to swing toward her. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the inevitable taste of death.

Time stood still for Naruto, for a moment he saw an image of Hinata overlap Merry.

' _L-Live.'_

Blade met flesh in a sickeningly wet squelch.

…

Is this death? Wasn't it supposed to hurt?

She slowly opened her eyes, _'I'm alive?'_

Something was different, the white-skinned gnoll had its back to her, standing a few meters away from — her eyes snapped open in shock.

' _D-Did he? H-How?'_

The albino gnoll had a blade protruding from its skull… with its axe buried in her companion's shoulder.

Naruto let out a low grunt, shoving his blade through the beast and pushing it to the side. He removed his grip on his sword and clutch at his injured shoulder, blood pouring out of the fresh wound.

She shook herself awake, those questions could be answered later… right now. She briskly rushed to his side, holding his shoulder in place as she examined the wound. The cut was wide and thick, the axehead had buried deep into his shoulder, deep enough to touch bone.

Merry grimaced, realizing exactly what she needed to do. Turning to face him, she bit her lips as their gazes met. His eyes remained dull, but he couldn't hide the slight crease on his brow, he was in pain. ROOT Shinobis were trained to have a high pain tolerance, but even someone like him couldn't just simply shrug off a wound this deep.

For her part, Merry couldn't understand why he'd take a blow for her. She had treated him with as much contempt as she had with the others before him. So, she just couldn't fathom why he would...

Gently grabbing the axe head with one hand, and his injured shoulder with the other, she faced him and saying, "I need to pull this out before I can heal you."

A pained nod was her response.

Merry hardened her eyes, focusing on the task at hand. "On three. one, tw —"

Shock ran through him, bolts of lightning shooting through his shoulder as Merry abruptly yanked the axe off. Stifling a scream of pain, he attempted to arch his back but she held him in place, not wanting to aggravate the wound even further.

Acting quickly, she closed her eyes, formed a hexagon with her fingers and chanted, "O light, return to Lumiaris' divine protection… [CURE]." Placing her palms over the wound, a bright green light enveloped it.

Naruto felt the pain slowly ebb away until the only thing left of the deep cut was a fresh pink scar. He couldn't help but muse about how similar it felt to the [Mystical Palm Technique]. The slight warm sensation followed by a slightly itchy feeling as the wound stitched together.

With the pain gone, his thoughts went back to the previous fight. He pulled of a Kawarami. Though it hurt, almost like his coils were soaked in hot magma. That didn't matter though, he'd bear with it. If only for a bit, he could restore the seal.

He formed his hand into a seal, eyes closed in concentration.

This wasn't just for him, it was for everyone in this world. If he could access his chakra again, he could the seal from imploding.

One try, he had to try at least one more time.

Slowly focusing on his hand seal, he commanded his chakra to gather—

— and collapsed instantly as insurmountable pain, the likes he'd never felt before, wracked his body.

He gripped hard at his fists, nails digging into his skin enough to draw blood, as he felt insides melting. He clawed at the ground, until his nails bled, feeling his bones shatter and reshatter themselves over and over. The core of his seal, was the worst spreading and searing everything it touched, his pain receptors worked overdrive sending hot pulses straight to his brain.

He couldn't understand anything anymore, everything felt like a blur. It was getting dark, he could faintly hear Merry's voice calling out to him, growing weaker and weaker.

"Naruto, hey! What's happening?! Wake up!" she exclaimed, giving a few light pats to his cheeks, trying to bring him back to his senses.

Merry didn't know what happened. Everything was going fine, it looked like he was getting better. But then he made a weird symbol with his hand and blood poured out of his orifices, as he writhed on the ground with what looked to be the worst seizure of his life.

Gibberish words left his lips. This is bad, he's getting delirious.

Cursing to herself, she grunted in effort as she hooked his shoulder over her neck, dragging his body to her tent and laying him down on the futon.

She could only hope that he'd wake up before another group of creatures find them.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes to the inside of a dimly lit tent. The candle in the lantern beside him was the only source of light. A cough escaped his lips. He felt weak, his body ached, he was burning with a fever but it was bearable.

"Took you…", Merry coughed, "...took you long enough." her voice sounded strained. Turning his head toward her, he realized exactly why his companion sounded even more prickly than usual.

The last two days hadn't been kind to her. She had to hunt for food, refill their water, cover their tracks, and nurse him back to health. Dark bags covered her eyes, her clothes were a mess, filth and grime covered her once pristine attire. The blues and whites of her outfit have turned into a mess of green and brown, stained by grass and dirt respectively.

Merry looked like she was on her last leg. She sat with her knees bent, her back leaning against the wall, using her staff as a crutch to prop herself up.

Painstakingly raising himself up to sit, "H-how," he rasped, Merry gave him a canteen of water which he gratefully accepted, after drinking his fill, he continued, "Ho-how many days..." he coughed, "...was I out."

"Two days."

He was out for _that_ long?

He looked around the tent, seeing a few towels, and a bowl of clay holding water. Outside the tent entrance, he could see a needle rabbit roasting on a firepit and a jug of clay boiling with water.

He gave her a small bow of his head, "Thank you."

"You saved my life," Despite her fatigue, Merry still had the willpower to turn her face away from him hiding the embarrassed flush on her cheeks, "consider us even." She finished keeping her gaze on the side.

The corners of his mouth twitched upward. A warmth burying itself inside of his chest. Merry acted similar to his late apprentice. The way she turned her gaze aside whenever she felt embarrassed. This warmth...he wondered if it meant anything special.

He didn't know — nevertheless, it felt nice to be taken care of. It made him feel...needed. He didn't understand why he wanted to _be_ needed, but again, he just scratched it off as one of the things he wouldn't be able to understand till he improved and became better at understanding people.

"Let's go, I don't want to waste anymore time," Merry said, turning around and leaving the tent. She tried to at least, but then her knees buckled, making her lose her footing. Her vision blurred as gravity took hold of her. She was already unconscious by the time she hit the ground, her fatigue getting the better of her.

A sudden flash of panic flashed through his face, Rushing toward her, he turned her on her back. Her cheeks were flushed red and she was breathing heavily. Placing the back of his hand on her forehead. His eyes narrowed, her skin felt hot to touch, and that's considering the fact that he himself has a fever.

Hooking her legs under his arm and supporting her back with the other, he paused. There was something wrapped around her back, it felt almost like wool. Laying her stomach down on the futon, his hand raised the hem of her battle dress, exposing her back to him.

His fists clenched together.

 _'You foolish girl.'_

Her back was wrapped in bandages, red spots bleeding through the white cloth. There were also a few bruises on the upper part of her back. She must've fought a whole group by herself, those cuts and bruises couldn't have been caused by a single weapon.

 _'I have to get her to a healer.'_

They were miles away from Alterna, but he didn't have a choice. She needed urgent medical attention. Her skin had already started to turn pale. Worst comes to worst, he'd have to use the [Mystical Palm Technique] on her at the risk of his chakra turning his insides into mush.

Strapping the sword from his back to his sides. He took ahold of her and rested her on his back piggyback style. Making sure he had a secure grip of her legs, he took a deep breath and dashed in the direction of Alterna.

For once, something burned within him. Motivating him. A desire, his eyes resolute, a goal set in mind.

 _"Live, Merry."_

XXXX


	3. Chapter 3

Just a little note: I use the translation for the light novel, not the anime. So, in the LN Mary's name is spelled Merry which I prefer. That's about it.

Enjoy.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

 _Naruto's hands pressed down on Hinata's chest, trying desperately to stifle the bleeding, but it was futile. There was too much blood, even his medical jutsu wouldn't be enough. Death wasn't uncommon in their field but it did nothing to quell the weight in his chest... Damn it. He should've known better. Should've been better, but it wasn't enough._

 _She whispered something, he didn't understand. Her eyes wavered, lavender orbs darkening as her life bled away. Her hands felt cold to touch, prickling against his skin, the lack of her own warmth - she's not going to make it._

" _s-sen-pai…"_

 _Naruto leaned in closer, pulling her close till they were just a hair's breadth away. "I'm here."_

 _Hinata raised two quivering fingers, the cold digits pressing against the nape of his neck, "What're you-" A single finger pressed against his lips, she looked at him dearly, warmly, a gaze only she could give him._

" _B-be free…"_

 _A surge of chakra injected through the cluster of nerves on his nape and something broke. Foreign thoughts — emotions surged through him, the most prominent of them being the sudden weight in his chest._

" _P-please, d-don't cry."_

" _...I'm not…"_

 _He paused, feeling something wet on his cheeks — tears... I'm crying?_

" _L-live, I-i'm c-c-counting on… you."_

" _H-hinata. No, I still don't… I-I don't under-"_

" _Shh. I-it's ok. R-remember your w-words, sh-shinobi are those… -cough- w-who e-endure...you are the b-best of us. S-so, e-endure...live for me, y-you p-p-promis..." she let out a rattling gasp, one that didn't befit her._

 _She didn't deserve this, if he was just a bit faster, if he just-_

 _As if sensing his thoughts, he felt her squeeze his hand, giving him a tearstained smile. Though no words were said, he heard her loud and clear. 'You did your best, don't blame yourself.'_

" _I-I lo-" she heaved a breath of air, a loving smile still on her face…_

" _Hinata...?"_

 _No response._

 _His chest - no, his heart tightened. He choked on a lump, he couldn't hold back anymore; for the first time, he was free to feel… and he felt the walls of despair crush him._

 _..._

 _The heart wrenching cry that followed would've tugged on the heartstrings of anyone passing nearby._

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Merry grasped her head as a throbbing headache surged through her skull. Eventually, the pain subsided and she propped herself up on the bed, leaning her back on the wooden headboard. Then a wave of vertigo hit her, her unused senses trying to make sense of her surroundings. Her eyes darted from side to side, examining the unfamiliar but strangely cozy room she found herself in.

' _...Where am I?'_

The familiar ringing of Alterna's clock tower sounded off from the distance, as if answering her question. Her blue orbs widened in surprise, the sudden shock alighting her nerves, waking her up fully.

' _What… Alterna? We made it out…?'_

Merry grabbed her staff propped against the bedside table. She swung her legs to the side of the bed, biting her lip as one of her ribs cried out in protest. Goosebumps went through her spine.

' _It's cold.'_

Taking a deep breathe, she used her staff as a leverage but as she prepared to push herself up to her feet — The door swung open.

A blonde priestess with a clipboard walked in, taking note of the room, then the blonde's eyes caught hers, widening at her patient's state.

"Hey— wait ...you shouldn't be up yet!" The priestess hurriedly approached her, brows scrunched up together in worry. She was ushered back to the bed, the priestess taking deliberate care of her as she was slowly eased back down on her back, "Easy now… nice and easy... there we go."

The priestess took a moment and gestured to herself with her hand, "I'm Magaleta, the head priestess of this hospital, you'll be under my care for today."

Magaleta looked at her chart, a frown forming on her lips and she explained in a leveled voice "You were afflicted by Black Adder venom, a common poison used by Gnolls, if I remember correctly." Tapping her clipboard on her palm, she continued, "Most of our patients suffer long-term damages by the time they get here… but you're one of the lucky ones, your companion brought you back here in time." she said, giving her a small smile.

Merry gave her a blank nod, eyes unfocused, as her brain caught up to the information, _'but I was in Aravakia… that's more than a half-day's walk away..."_

"Seems like you're recovering well, I'll run a few diagnosis checks on you to make sure everything's alright. If everything goes well, you should be out later tonight or early tomorrow at best. Oh, that reminds me! Your thief friend came by, those are from him by the way."

Merry's gaze shifted to the bedside table beside her, finding a basket of fruits in it. There were a few apples, oranges and kiwis piled over each other.

Magaleta turned to her with a wink, a sly grin on her face "You just missed him... he visited you just a couple minutes ago. How thoughtful that blondie. Hmm... _you know_ he's _pretty_ cute huh?"

Merry turned away from her a slightly indignant look on her normally unperturbed face, " _Pardon?_ " she said with a leveled voice.

Magaleta let a soft giggle escape her lips, writing a check mark on her clipboard. "Ok, your emotional reflexes checks out at least…" At Merry's slight glare, she giggled even further, while fishing out a stethoscope from her white coat pocket, "Enough of that, we have a long day ahead, so let's not dilly-dally any further~ _neh_?"

" _Maybe_ if you didn't waste time with your pointless cracks, you'd have less patients with long term damages." Merry quipped.

A boisterous laugh left Magaleta's lips, thinking to herself, _'Definitely worth it!'_

XXXX

"So..." she squinted at him, twirling the straw of her drink "you really ran _all_ the way here from Aravakia? Like _without_ resting, seriously?" Barbara asked, nudging the tankard of ale on the table, a look of disbelief on her face. At his nod, she lent back on her chair, stretching her hands up behind her head "Uh...are you sure you're all alright up in there?" She gave a few soft taps on her side temple.

Naruto gave her a quizzical look, a single brow raised and took another sip from his tankard of sweet mead.

She glared at him from the corner of her eyes, "Don't give me that look. I know about that whole spiel about Bri banning you from taking elite bounty jobs. Need I remind you that our class works best in capitalizing openings made by _party members_. _Party._ _Members._ You know… like _groups_ of people."

Naruto blinked at her, his expression unchanging, "I am in a party now." Granted it was only him and Merry.

"You mean the _priestess_?" Barbara questioned incredulously, "You're missing the point! You're only in a party of _two_ , and with that _priestess_ no less… from the rumors I've been hearing she's brutal, Luminaris' sake! Her nickname is _Scary_ Mary." Barbara emphasized the word with air quotes using her fingers.

Naruto gave her a blank look, and shook his head, reclining back on his seat, "A misnomer."

"What was that?" Barbara leaned further in, sandwiching her bountiful form over the table.

"It's a misnomer...it doesn't suit her. She can be quite… nice actually."

Merry had been nice enough to protect and stay with him when he was incapacitated. That's a lot more than he could say for most people; and quite frankly, Naruto found Merry's presence pleasant, though she may not show it with her interactions with him, he knew that she cared for him. Why else would she stay and risk her life?

Plus, he sees how she examines the wounds he accrues, reacting effectively to support him in different situations; how she observes with excruciating detail every movement of the enemy to make sure none would blind side him.

He trusted her to have his back, and that was enough. Afterall, trust is _the_ key component to an effective team.

" _Hoh_?" Barbara raised a brow, a sly grin crossing her lips as she scooted closer to him, "Wait a minute, _wait a minute_ , you're _defending_ her!"

"..Why, oh why I wonder... are you perhaps ... _smitten_ by this _pure_ maiden? Hah, It all makes sense now! So, this is why you want to be in a party _alone_ with her. ...but wait! - what about me…? Whatever will I do with my _poor unrequited feelings_?"

Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes when she held her hand above heart in mock hurt. Giving her a deadpanned look instead,

"...Barbara-senpai, you're not the type to settle down...with anyone."

"You're darn right I'm not!" Almost childishly, she spun and did a 180, taking another swig of her mead and slammed it down on the table with a dull thud. Wiping her lips with the back of her hand, she continued,

"-hiccup- Whew, that hit the spot! How 'bout you though, my _cute_ little apprentice. Ever thought of settling down?" her eyebrows wagged at him suggestively.

The question made him pause for a bit. Did he? The whole premise of it seemed...pleasant enough. Actually. Why should he answer anyway? Ah, nevermind. It's Barbara. She won't stop pestering him until he gave her something.

Hmm, having someone to take care of you, shouldering each other's burdens… that wasn't too bad… but then again. Who would want to shoulder his burdens? Can they even understand him, someone who doesn't even understand himself? He shook his head, staring blankly on the wooden table in front of him, "...I don't think that's an option for me."

"Oi! Bartender, a round of ale for me. Also, put it on his tab!" A rare twitch of irritation escaped him as Barbara outright ignored his reply.

Barbara was nice but sometimes, she can be juuust a little bit too much to deal with. Especially with her antics, having made it her goal to get a reaction out of him through any means possible though he had to admit, she's been quite successful with it recently.

Part of the blame were his emotions since it has been… volatile lately. He didn't know why, perhaps it was the fox's influence seeping into him.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Naruto gave her a tired look, "Barbara-senpai… besides robbing me of a few coppers, is there any other reason you came to see me?"

At this, the mirth on Barbara's eyes crumbled and she immediately sobered down, her looks turning uncharacteristically serious, "Look, I won't bore you with details but my sources told me you've caught the interest of the leader of a dangerous group… I'm sure you've heard of them, they're a group of veteran soldiers called the Daybreakers."

Daybreakers. If he remembered correctly they're one of the elite veteran parties leading the charge against the No-Life King's remaining undead army.

Barbara continued, "They claim to be vanguards and protectors of the realm, but they're nothing but a bunch power-hungry adventurers with an unhealthy obsession for powerful trinkets… I heard they've been meaning to recruit you. Their leader, Soma, don't ever speak to him. You hear me?"

"I'm no-"

"Let me stop you there, I know what you're gonna say. Soma… He's not a person you can say no to. He's not just incredibly powerful, but you don't get to climb up the system as fast as he did without being incredibly crafty as well. The last person who said no to him, well..." Barbara's eyes darkened, shadows looming over her features. "There's an unspoken rule here in Alterna, 'What Soma wants, Soma gets'. Naruto, I need you to keep your guard up, keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. He has an unhealthy amount of interest in you, for what reason, I don't know."

Naruto paused for a moment, taking the time to digest the information. Then with a nod he responded, "I understand, thanks for the warning."

Barbara's grave look lingered for a moment, but then her eyes twinkled, catching sight of something…interesting. Her lips extended to a sly smile as she stood up, giving him a wave goodbye, " _Well_ , guess that's times up for me. Seems like _someone's_ out looking for _you_." Barbara said with a singsong voice.

He followed her gaze and there by the doorway, with her signature prickly look in place, stood Merry. Her eyes lighted up a bit at the sight of him. Her steps carried their usual grace, kind of like how royalty walked. It wasn't haughty, but there's an air of nobility accompanying her making it seem like the very act of walking is an art.

"Ok _tiger_ ," Barbara said, putting on her hood, "I'll leave you be… for now, _Enjoy!_ " and just like that she was gone, fading into the crowd of patrons around him.

"Friend of yours?" Merry's voice cut through, having seated herself on the stool beside him.

"...Of some sorts, you could say." Naruto replied, turning to face her. The bartender went by, and Merry ordered her own tankard of mead. Then, an awkward silence befell both of them.

Naruto sparred a curious glance at her. This was new, Merry tended to sit as far away as possible, for her to sit next to him…something must h-

"Naruto," Merry's voice broke the barrier of silence between them, her brows were scrunched, struggling to think of the right words to say. She gave a sigh, her head sinking down a bit, " _thank you._ " She said it so quietly, it might as well have been a whisper.

But he understood, a small warmth swelled in his chest, a slight smile formed on his lips; startling the priestess a bit.

Naruto took a sip of his mead, and replied, "...you're welcome."

A slight tingle raced through her spine. She didn't notice it before and she blamed Magaleta's teasing for it but Naruto _is_ quite attractive, especially with that smile. Actually, if you look past his dull dead-fish eyes, she had to admit her blonde companion was incredibly blessed with good looks.

A dull thunk broke her thoughts as the bartender set her drink down on the wooden counter.

Merry's face heated up slightly, realizing that she was subtly checking out her companion. She thanked Luminaris that nobody noticed. Grasping the tankard of mead in both hands, she brought the drink close to her, taking short sips of the sweet alcoholic beverage while hiding the pink dust on her cheeks.

"Are you well?" Naruto broke the silence this time, he gave her a side glance, examining her current state of health. She definitely looked a lot better compared to how she was a few days back,

"H-huh?" his voice shook her out of her thoughts. She coughed on her hand to clear the blush on her cheeks,

"I should be fine come tomorrow." Merry replied, placing her drink down.

Naruto idly wondered if she was a lightweight, she'd only taken a few sips and she already had a slight pink to her cheeks. He hummed softly in response, "We'll take the day-off tomorrow, there's something...urgent I need to address, and I want to give you an extra day of rest at the very least."

Merry didn't object to that, she knew the risks of overstraining one's self. Though she wondered if his sudden concern related to the cause of his fainting back in the Aravakia plains. Come to think of it, she had a few questions she wanted to ask him.

"Naruto, you're a thief… correct?" Merry began, he already had a faint idea where this is going, but he gave her a nod regardless. "yet, you can use spells. You use one to switch places with me," she scrunched her brows together, "but thieves can't use spells...so, how?"

He expected it, he didn't really try to keep his origins hidden to begin with. The only reason he didn't reveal it was because he found no reason to. Information is key to victory, Danzo had beaten that lesson right into him. While most shinobis liked to actively flaunt their skills, Danzo taught him to restrain himself, to reveal only what needed to be revealed at the right moment, so that he could use it as a trump card at the right moment.

There was no harm in telling Merry who he was, where he came from, though he had no plans on telling her about the seal or the fox; that was his battle and his alone. He cleared his thoughts and turned to face Merry; whose eyes were filled with intrigued.

"I'm sure you realize by now, my memories of my world are still intact, but I assure you that the world that I came from is different from yours."

Merry kept her gaze on him, urging him to continue. He ran his tongue over the back of his teeth, and continued,

"I am what you would call a shinobi — a ninja. Born with the ability to control our own life energy. We call it chakra, and with it we can walk on walls, command the elements, or even summon clones of ourselves."

"You can clone yourself?" Merry asked, her eyes slightly widened in surprise.

He shook his head at her, and said, "Not currently, I used to, ever since I arrived in this world, I've lost my ability to gather and use chakra."

Now Merry understood, the strange hand signs he did back then was probably him trying to gather this so called life energy.

"Wait, if you can't use your energy, then how did you switch places with me?" Merry asked.

"I don't know," Naruto replied, "I thought maybe, I regained use of it but..." A frown formed on his face as he glanced at her bandaged form.

"I see… and your people… all of you can use this… chakra?"

Naruto shook his head, "Not everyone, the civilian population has chakra, but they can't use it. You have to be trained to develop your chakra coils at an early age to be able to manipulate it."

"How old were you when you first started using it?" she asked.

"I applied to the academy when I was five, but I wasn't taught how to use it till I was inducted to a special military program, I was six by then."

" _Pardon?_ Six years old? They drafted a _six year old_ in the military?" Merry's voice raised slightly in the end, an incredulous look in her eyes.

Naruto raised a hand to placate her and explained.

"We had no choice, our wars are brutal. Every village was running low on shinobi, but there was an ever-increasing demand for soldiers. So, our village leader decided to implement an accelerated program for shinobis, ROOT. Children of the ages five and six were chosen and inducted to the program. The course ranged from one to two years. So, by the time I was eight I was a fully functioning shinobi of my village."

"But…this...I mean, doesn't it bother you at all? They took your childhood away from you, they made you into a child soldier." Merry had a dismayed look on her face, unable to comprehend how anyone could ever accept that.

"It was normal for us. There is a saying, _Shinobis are those who endure,_ _it's not about how a shinobi lives but how he dies._ For us there is no greater glory than to die for our village. Sacrificing our childhood is a small price to pay, to allow the next generation to live on." Those were the last words of Jiraiya the Gallant before he left and met his untimely demise at the hands of the Akatsuki leader.

He shook his head, "But it doesn't matter anymore, before I got here, my village was destroyed, and it was a losing battle from there on."

Merry stood speechless. She felt the weight and conviction behind his words and she finally understood. She misread him… whom she first thought was a raging psycho is actually a selfless soldier, a hero. A man who had sacrificed his own childhood, dirtied his hands so that his own people won't, and yet, even that was snatched away from him.

He's a loner. An outcast surrounded by people that feared him — including her. She felt like scum. Her heart weighed heavily on her and she felt the need to offer him an apology.

"Naru-"

Suddenly, a pair of arms hooked itself around both her and Naruto's shoulders, as their unknown assailant made himself known, "Merri-chi! Naru-chi! How're my two favorite adventurers doin~?" Kikkawa said, with his usual jovial and boisterous voice.

"..."

"Kikkawa. Arms. Off. _Now_."

"Yikes!" Kikkawa drew his arm back as if scalded, "It's just a greeting Merry-chii~, just a greeting~" Kikkawa said, his arms raised up placatingly, but shrunk back at the scathing glare she gave him.

"Just a greeting? How 'bout I introduce my staff to your face?" Merry quipped, her voice sharp. Kikkawa shrank even further, terrified at the prospect.

"You know how I feel about the face, Merri-chii!"

Naruto observed the interactions between the two with a slight mirth, the edge of his cheeks pulling his lips into a small smile. Unconsciously his hand went down to palm his abdomen. He flinched, a mild stinging sensation came from the seal, kind of like multiple pins and needles. Slowly, his mirthful gaze crumbled, replaced by a frown.

"I have to go." Naruto said, making the two stop, with one last swig of his tankard, he stood up and turned to head out.

...

"Naruto," Merry's voice halted him on his tracks. Sparing her a glance, she continued "...is everything alright?"

The fact that she was concerned for him made him feel fuzzy inside. It felt good. Strange... he wanted to know more but...

Nodding at her, he replied, "Everything's fine."

Liar. Everything was the _opposite_ of fine. But what could he tell her? That the very embodiment of hate and destruction held by a rapidly deteriorating seal is about to break free? Worse he still had found no way of stopping it, add in the fact that he hadn't gotten any sleep because the voices would haunt him whenever he tried to.

He pushed past the twin tavern doors, muttering reassuringly to himself, "Everything's fine." ... _It wasn't._

* * *

XXXX

* * *

A fat, juicy rivercarp bursted out of the water, it's shiny scales glistening under the sun peeking from the tree canopies. Then, a glint of steel flashed through the woods, impaling the fish through a nearby tree. It flopped around uselessly, struggling to escape its predicament, to no avail.

"Daan magaan dhuul!" The raspy shrill voice of a gob shouted, emerging from the bushes. Five other gobs followed after it.

The lithe gob took the fish, raising it above its head in victory. It wiped a small bit of drool from its lips. It'd been a long time since it had a delicious meal. Meanwhile, the five other gobs gathered sticks and kindle for the flame; A quick spark of a flint later, and the smell of seared fish wafted through the air.

The five other gobs watched with rapt attention as the leader gob inched closer to the smoked fish. It took a quick whiff. It's fully cooked. Licking its lips, it held the skewered fish in its hands to take the first bite. It was only natural, it caught the fish, it was the leader, so it gets first dibs. Maybe it'll leave some for its lackeys later...maybe a few fish bones.

Suddenly, its ears twitched. Hearing a slight rustle in the bushes, it drew its knife. Its fellow gobs responded in kind, drawing their own weapons. The leader gob barked something in its language. Ordering one of its lackeys to check the bushes.

The gob gulped but nodded nonetheless. It approached the bush with careful steps with its spear extended in front. Its hands shook unsteadily as it got closer and closer to its target. Finally, with a loud yell, it swiped at the bushes.

Finding nothing, the gob gave a sigh of relief and turned around to face the leader gob. "Daagaan't khruukhec maag— "

[Blame]

The gob plummeted to the ground, it felt its stomach churn as a wave of nausea overtook it. It heard its leader shout, trying to rally them together. The spear-gob raised its head to face the leader gob, just in time to see a fan of knives skewer the lead-gob on the same tree as the carp it caught.

One of its comrades screamed in terror and was promptly silenced as a blue-haired woman came from behind and busted its head open with her staff.

One of its friends, a mace-gob, swiped at the priestess, only to be countered, using the force of its blow to twirl around and slam the blunt end of her staff to its face. Another gob, this one a sword-gob, struck at the priestess. A blonde thief came out of nowhere and met the blow with his dagger. The sword-gob shook from the force of the blow, and flew backwards from a hard kick to its face, courtesy of the blonde.

The priestess followed through, "O light, under the divine grace of Lord Luminous… [HOLY LIGHT]"

A fast projectile of light, shaped like a cross, struck the sword-gob on its chest. It gave a shrill screech as the cross of light burned its flesh. Then, it fell over, dead. The smell of charred flesh in the air.

The spear-gob could do nothing but witness as the thief and priestess duo decimated its friends in seconds. Finally, its last companion cried out in pain, followed by a swing of a blade, and the spear-gob was the only one left.

Terrified eyes quivered at the sight of the two approaching it, trying desperately to crawl away, but it couldn't. Its body refused to move.

Finally, the two stopped, looking down on it with cold eyes. The priestess whispered something to the blonde, to which he nodded. Then, she left, leaving the gob alone with the ominous blonde.

Tears ran down the spear-gobs cheeks, looking at the blonde with pleading eyes. But it was all for naught, the blonde shook his head and angled his knife down.

[SHINK]

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"This is only the third one so far." Merry frowned, turning the body of one of the deceased gobs using the butt of her staff.

"It's to be expected, the new volunteer soldiers must've significantly reduced their numbers." Naruto replied; he pulled the nose ring of the lifeless spear-gob and it came out with a wet plop. Checking for more valuables and finding none, he moved on to the next corpse.

As the duo continued their business, Naruto began to reflect on the recent events that had happened.

After their talk in the tavern a little over a month ago, Merry had changed. She had warmed up to him; in a way at least. It took a while, but Merry slowly opened up. Filling the role of a mentor of some sorts, teaching him and instructing him about the nuances of human emotions; which he greatly appreciated.

He learned that the warmth he felt in his heart whenever he saw her was joy. Though it confused him why she wouldn't speak, nor look at him for a few days after he admitted this matter. But no matter, it took a few stumbles to learn how to walk. So like usual, it was best to put it in the backburner and deal with it when it surfaces again.

But that wasn't all, their coordination and effectiveness in battle had improved significantly. Merry learned a few offensive spells to help him from afar. [Holy Light] a spell which allowed the user to summon a beam of light in the shape of a cross, one of the few offensive spells priests had in their kit. In addition to this, she learned a couple more tricks with her staff and a few more buffing spells.

While Merry prioritized training the magical aspects, he prioritized on the physical aspects, mostly in kenjutsu and taijutsu. Embarrassed is he to admit that he had specialized too much on the ninjutsu aspect of his training. The fact that his taijutsu style primarily made use of shadow clones is a testament to that and now he's paying repercussions for that choice. But he's on the road to correct that now, at least.

He tensed up a bit, the seal in his stomach flaring. His hands formed into fists, digging into the soft material of his shirt till his knuckles turned white. Then, as suddenly as it came, it was gone. Merry took notice of his rigid posture and gave him a questioning look, "I'm fine." he waved of her concerns giving her a fake smile.

Merry kept her eyes locked on him for a second, before giving a sigh and continuing on her task.

While everything had turned out seemingly well so far, this continued to be a cause of concern for him. Occasionally, the seal acted up, sending a wave of pain in his gut but there's no other way to put it.

The seal was deteriorating fast.

It was taking a physical toll on his body just to maintain it, his motor reflexes had dulled, not just because of the lack of sleep but because his body was being broken down by the forced absorption of the seal. Even worse, he still hasn't found a way to stop or at least delay the deterioration of the Eight-Trigrams Seal.

Hearing the grass shift from a sudden weight in front of him, he looked up and met eyes with Merry, something was bothering her. He could tell, they'd spent enough time with each other to know these little things. He shifted his head, urging her to speak.

"We're not making enough, we should look for someplace else to hunt."

Technically they made enough to sustain their daily cost of living but they haven't been making as many coins as they did since they ran out of bounty quests. Speaking of bounty quests, he was fortunate enough to have Merry convince Bri to stop publicizing the names of the soldiers who completed his bounty quests. He wanted to remain low-key especially since Soma had been actively looking for him.

"We could always go back to Aravakia again, if you don't mind?" Naruto suggested.

Merry shook her head, "How 'bout the Cyrene Mines?"

' _But wasn't that the place where your friends…?"_

He wanted to ask her, but he knew better than to broach about that subject with her. No use in having her clam up on him now. She tried to keep a nonchalant look on her face but he could tell that she was eager for this. She wanted this.

"Any particular reason why?" he asked.

"It's closer to Alterna and the kobolds aren't that tough from goblins, and they follow a specific daily routine so it'll be easy for us to predict their patrol patterns."

He didn't buy her excuse. She was hiding something. But he didn't want to pry, he didn't want to be a hypocrite now. Either way she made a point, it only took more or less two hours to get to the mines on foot. A considerable difference compared to the half a day's worth of travel time to get to Aravakia.

Naruto turned the gob's corpse aside, counting his haul. 1 silver and 30 coppers, this gob didn't have much. They were probably strays or exiles. The rejects of the pack. Somehow he felt something for them, was this… empathy? He'll have to ask Merry later. But despite the meager amount of loot, he didn't complain, it was enough to pay for rent and bring food to the table at least.

"Naru," he turned at the mention of his name, this was another thing that changed, Merry had shortened his name, opting to calling him 'Naru'. Not that he had any problem with it. Merry continued, "I'm meeting up with Hayashi later, so I'll come by a little bit later than usual."

Oh, right. Today's a friday. They were supposed to have their usual meet up at Sherry's. Surprisingly, it was Merry who suggested the idea. After dinner together, she'd make him participate on different kinds of activities in the tavern. Leave it to Merry to train his human interact — _Ahem_. People skills even on leisure time.

On a side note, he still didn't understand why people considered it 'fun' to be force fed a whole barrel of ale while being held upside down. But he had to hand it to her. Her method was effective. He quickly recognized what the feelings of shame and disgust were.

But he digressed, his thoughts must've wondered too far because Merry was now waving a hand in front of him, "Naru?"

Naruto blinked, his thoughts coming back to him, "Ah. My apologies, I was deep in thought... Sure, no problem. I'll meet you at the usual."

Merry nodded and went back to scanning through the gob's belongings.

Then, he sensed it.

"Merry," the alertness in his voice raised her guard up, her eyes narrowing together. "You hear that?"

Focusing on her senses, she scanned her surroundings. Squinting her brows, she said, "I don't h— wait."

He saw it, a pair of silhouettes over the distance. Squinting his eyes, he could tell from this distance that the silhouettes were two injured young ladies. The one with the rod much more so than the one with a bow.

Seems like Merry noticed too.

"Merry."

Naruto lowered himself down and spared a glance at her, to which she nodded. Strapping her staff on its holster, she climbed on his back, feeling his arms secure itself on her legs. "Hold tight." he cautioned. They _blurred_ , covering the distance between them and the pair within seconds.

The pair jumped, eyes alighting with alarm. The bow-wielder, a red head, pointed her weapon at them, "Leave us alone!" The slight falter of her arm as she held her bow-string told him that the red-head was on her last legs.

From here he could see that the pair wasn't much older than them. He estimated they were around the ages of fifteen to seventeen.

' _This must be the newly recruited volunteer soldiers'_ He thought.

Moving quickly, Merry dismounted herself from him, staff in hand. But stopped as the huntress aimed her bow at her.

"I'm a priestess. I can help you." Merry said. The girl didn't loosen her grip.

The huntress' eyes narrowed slightly, "How can Yume trust you wouldn't bert- betray her?!"

"We're here to help. We're volunteer soldiers, like you." Merry reasoned, "Your friend is bleeding out, let me heal her."

The huntress held her weapon for a bit, but after a glance at her struggling companioin, gave way. She lowered the mage down and moved aside, eyes narrowed, watching Merry like a hawk, but Merry ignored it, moving calmly toward the injured mage.

It surprised him how easily Merry diffused the situation. Keeping her thoughts level-headed and her wits about her. He was quite fascinated with her charisma, how seamless it was for her to attract people despite the cold persona she exuded.

The mage, a lavenderette, was heavily injured. Merry chanted a quick incantation and press her hands down on the wound on the young lady's stomach.

A bright beam of light illuminated from her hands and covered the wound. Then it dimmed down and Merry's hands withdrew. The only sign of the once grievous wound was a soft pink hue on the skin. Healing a few minor injuries, she then turned to do the same to the red-head.

As Merry was healing a particularly nasty bruise on the red-head who he presumed to be 'Yume' the red-head spoke, "...Yume apologizes."

Her manner of speech was somewhat strange. It reminded him of how a child would speak, almost like what one would perceive as 'cute'.

Merry nodded, tilting Yume's chin up and scanning her for more injuries, "Worry not, I took no offense. Now, tell me what happened?"

Yume scrunched her brow, trying hard to recall everything that had happened to them.

"Yume and Yume's party were doing our daily rou-routines in Damuro. We killed a few poor gobbies but when we were looting them. Some mean people angbushed us. Haru-kun told us to retreat and get help. Please pretty priestess, help Yume!" trails of tears ran down Yume's face as she finished recounting her tail.

Merry coughed, slightly taken aback by the sudden compliment on her looks. " _Please_ call me Merry, Yume-san." She glanced at him, their eyes connecting for a bit. A silent conversation, an unspoken agreement happened between them and she turned back to the hopeful huntress, "How far are your friends from here, Yume-san?"

Yume's eyes shimmered a bit, joy alighted her eyes at the ray of hope for her friends.

"Yume thanks you so, so much! Haru-kun and the others are just a few distance back near the entrance of Damuro!"

Merry turned to him, another unspoken agreement happening between them.

He nodded at her, and jumped on top of a tree branch. Landing in a crouch, Merry's voice called out to him a few seconds short of leaping away. Glancing back, he saw cold fury burning beneath her blue orbs.

Ah. These two must've reminded her of her own experience when she lost her party members. He didn't need an expert to guess what she meant to say.

' _No mercy.'_

Yeah, Merry's pissed.

Nodding at her, he turned around and tensed his leg muscles. A resounding boom with a loud snap followed, as the blonde shinobi catapulted from tree branch to tree branch, covering a great expanse just under a few seconds.

If he looked back, he would've seen Yume's eyes widen, mouth agape at the speed at which he traveled.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

His heartbeat hammered against his chest. Like the booming of a thousand drums within his body. Haruhiro had never been more terrified in his life.

Ducking from a wild swing, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as the blade narrowly missed him by an inch. He jumped back a few distance, trying to right himself. This was bad. Moguzo and Ranta were not faring much better.

Moguzo was getting double teamed by a warrior and a hunter. The pair's constant attacks forced him on the defensive. His body was littered with cuts. The cuts themselves were harmless but the sheer number of them was starting to take a toll on Moguzo. He was trying hard to maintain face but Haruhiro could see that his movements were getting sluggish.

Ranta wasn't doing any better, the normally nimble dread knight of the party was out of breathe. He'd taken down the enemy mage but he was getting overwhelmed by the combined efforts of the bandit swordsman, and their leader. Haruhiro had thought that their leader was also a swordsman, but surprise surprise they were fighting a darn knight! Just his luck to fight against an elite class in Damuro of all places.

Dodging from another narrow slash. That was close! He felt something wet stinging his brow. He swallowed a dry lump in his throat. Damn it. Damn it. Damn it all! Blood covered his right eye, limiting his vision. Think Haruhiro! What would Manato do?!

Should someone stay? Stall and let the other two leave. One person would have to stay but that person will most likely…

No.

He can't think like this. They had just lost Manato a week ago. Their morale and team spirit was low enough already. He couldn't ask one of them to give their lives away. It'd have to be him. But he knew they couldn't take losing another one. So he can't.

He couldn't think of anything though, their best bet is for Yume and Shihoru to find help. That was unlikely though, no one goes through Damuro anymore. Most volunteer soldiers considered gobs to be 'beneath' them. No one ever bothered going here, it was a training ground for volunteer soldiers.

He was losing hope.

"Come on! Come on! Come on! You think you can bring down the great Ranta-sama?! I'll take you all down!"

Really Ranta?

What a Ranta-esque response, still he couldn't complain. It gave him a boost of confidence. Ranta was fighting with everything he got. Times like these he actually appreciated having Ranta in the party. His normally annoying voice was a source of encouragement right now. But he knows that for all his bravado Ranta wouldn't be able to last long. Moguzo was on his last legs too. They needed help. They needed him.

But he can't…

' _What an unreliable leader.'_

Haruhiro deflected a knife strike, retaliating with his own swipe, which his opponent dodged. Another strike came from behind, and his hand went into auto-pilot, swiping at his opponent's wrist.

That was the thief skill, [Swat]. The sound of the weapon dropping filled him with a sense of relief. He immediately kicked the dagger into the raging river behind him.

The disarmed hunter let out a loud curse, spitting on the ground, "I'm going to gut you for that boy!" Haruhiro's spirit fell when he saw the hunter retrieve another knife from his pouch, using his good hand to twirl it around to a back grip. "Die!"

Preparing to clash, Haruhiro braced himself and raised his dagger up to counterattack. He expected to meet resistance. So, he was stunned when his opponent suddenly fell flat on his face. A knife sticking out from the back of his head.

"Who's there?!" the other bandit shouted, "Show yourself!"

Haruhiro didn't understand but he wasn't going to complain. He thanked whatever God was out there for the timely intervention. 'Now's my chance!'

Deciding to assist Moguzo, Haruhiro fled; leaving the bandit to his demise.

Moguzo was locked in a deadlock with the warrior. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw the thief come in to stab Moguzo from behind.

"Moguzo, duck!" he warned. Grabbing a handful of knives from his pouch, he flung it in an arc. Making both bandits jump back to dodge.

"Thanks!"

There it was. Moguzo's 'Thanks Slash' also known as [Rage Cleave], one of the basic skills taught to warriors after their initiation. His blade struck true, cleaving the thief from the shoulder all the way up to the bone of his hip. It was quite a gruesome display of brutality but it was a welcome one.

He tried to capitalize on the opportunity by swiping at the distracted warrior, but he was too slow. The warrior recovered and backed a considerable steps away from them. Haruhiro noticed how heavy the warrior's breathing is.

' _Thank Luminaris! He's tired.'_

Seeing Moguzo glance at him at the corner of his eyes, he gave him a nod and they surrounded the bandit, covering off his escape route.

Just as the two of them were about to jump the bandit. He heard a voice, a soft elegant voice that sounded melodious to his ears.

[Holy Light]

Then a projectile of light, resembling a cross connected with the warrior.

"Wha- Ack! Ah! _Ah_! Make it stop! I'll be good, just make it stop! please, please, please, _please_!"

Before his very eyes, Haruhiro found what's it like to see a man be seared alive by the purifying flames of a priest's magic. The bandit's pleads slowly dwindled, the pungent smell of burnt flesh wafting in the air.

Turning to the source of the spell, Haruhiro felt his heart skip a beat.

He saw possibly the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Her beauty was unbelievable, almost unnatural. It was too perfect. Was she even human?

Even the way she moved was otherworldly, the way she held herself, everything about her was just so… graceful.

"Who are you?"

The words left his mouth before he knew it. Nice one Haruhiro, what a great way to question someone who just went out of their way to help.

"Haru-kun!"

' _Yume?'_

That was as far as he got before a human bullet zipped straight to him. Feeling the wind knocked out of his lungs. The two of them crashed on the ground in a heap. Blinking the stars away, he felt Yume's arms enveloped him in a tight embrace.

"Haru-kun! Yume thought you was dead...Waah!"

Oh, how great your faith is in me Yume… still her concern was a welcome one. It was nice to know she'd miss him if he ever perished, now that sounded morbid. He returned her hug and spared a glance at the blue-haired beauty.

'Yume actually found help…" He hadn't expected them to find anyone. No one hunted in Damuro afterall. Yet, she not only found help, but found an actual priestess. A strong one at that. Finding his voice, Haruhiro glanced up at their blue-haired savior,

"Uhm… thank you for your help, I'm Haruhiro. I was in a pinch, so thanks for also dealing with the other two."

The beauty gave him a confused look, "Other two…? _Oh,_ it wasn't I."

Now it was his turn to give her a confused look, ' _So, if it wasn't you then who…_ '

[Snap]

Haruhiro jumped as a tree-branch broke and a beaten body flew dead straight in the middle of the clearing; landing in a heap. It vaguely resembled a man, or what was left of it. He probably more than half of his bones broken. Bruises covered his body like an abstract painting of black and blue. He recognized the man. It was the leader, the knight Ranta was facing.

' _Huh...how did Ranta…?'_

"Naru."

The priestess called out and a blonde man with icy blue eyes emerged from the thicket. He was like a shadow, the way he held himself showed that his movements were all calculated. He had a sword drawn, wiping the edge clean with a torn leather rag; probably from one of the bandits, he hoped at least. Ranta followed from behind, looking a little pale and sending wary looks over the blonde's way.

The intimidating blonde approached them, sheathing his blade as he reached them. From here, Haruhiro could see that the blonde stood at least about 4 inches taller than him. And he thought he looked menacing before...his presence was even _more_ intimidating up close!

The blonde seemed to be having a stare down with the priestess; said priestess sending a stern look the blonde's way which slowly morphed into a slight glare.

The blonde heaved a sigh and turned to look at him with a resigned look, stretching a hand out. "Uzumaki Naruto… pleasure to make acquaintance with you."

Haruhiro met his hand for a shake, "Haruhiro, t-thanks for the help." he could feel the level of strength on the man's grip. This blo— Naruto was probably in the same level as Renji or maybe even Soma.

"A bit too stiff — smile a bit, lighten your voice and try to make it more natural... like this," the priestess turned to face him, lips extended to a small smile and her hand extended out to him. Haruhiro felt his breath catch up to his throat. Her smile accentuated her elegant beauty, was it even fair for a human to possess such looks?

"I'm Merry, a pleasure to meet you, Haruhiro."

The way his name rolled of her lips made a tingle raise through his spine and when they shook; her skin was perhaps the smoothest he'd ever felt. It was soft and delicate, yet he knew that she was powerful, but that only added to her appeal.

But… she probably had a wave of suitors waiting in line for her. And of course, there's him. At this he spared a glance at the blonde who was watching Merry with rapt attention.

' _They're close.'_ Haruhiro concluded.

His heart almost fell when he felt her pull away. Damn it Haru, get a grip man!

"Yah know this is all fine and dandy, so let's get this out of the way. What do you want?" Judging from his loud boisterous voice, Ranta seemed to have regained his confidence — at the wrong time if you would ask him.

Seriously Ranta?!

Haruhiro gave him what constituted as a 'What the heck are you doing' expression.

"I mean surely you want a reward, but make no mistake, the Great Ranta-sama would've won with or without your help regardless! You just sped up the results, yah hear?!" The cocky dreadknight declared with his arms crossed and head held high.

Grimacing at his antics, Haruhiro craned his neck back to look at the pair.

The two of them stood still, looking at Ranta with disturbed expressions. Well… Merry did. The strange blonde kept a neutral expression throughout the whole ordeal. Then she turned, walking away from them.

"Naru, we're leaving."

Naruto followed behind her wordlessly, though his brows were scrunched together. Trying and failing to understand the situation.

' _Damn it Ranta.'_

"Wait!" Haruhiro called out to them. Merry spared a glance at his approach,

"Yes?"

Haruhiro gulped, hearing the tone of her voice. It wasn't cold by any sense, but it held enough weight to tell him that she didn't want to be here. What was he going to say again? Oh, right. He wanted to repay them for saving them. He tried to convince himself that it was the only reason, but he knew in the back of his mind that it was just an excuse to spend more time with Merry.

"Oh, uhm...sorry, what Ranta meant to say was that we want to thank you for helping us. Hmm… how 'bout we treat you both to some drinks later at Sherry's?" Haruhiro said.

"Oi, Haru. I mean what I mean alright. Don't go around putting words on my mouth." He ignored Ranta's rebuttal, keeping high hopes that at the very least Merry would accept his request.

Seeing the hopeful looks sent her way, Merry pondered for a bit, sparing a glance back at her companion.

' _Well, Naruto does need to spend more time getting to know other people.'_

"...Ok. We'll take you up on your offer." she replied. Naruto kept silent so Haruhiro just assumed that he was in agreement with her.

"Great! We were all actually planning to have a small feast in Alterna for a good haul today. So, everything seems to be aligning perfectly, somehow." Haruhiro said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

While this was going on, Naruto had a strange look in his face, keeping his eyes locked on the lazy-eyed thief.

XXXX

 _This was a bad idea._ Those were Naruto's immediate thoughts as he examined the awkward atmosphere between him and Haruhiro's party.

After arriving at Sherry's, Merry had excused herself from the group to meet up with Hayashi. However, before parting ways she had given him a look which easily translated to ' _Play nice'_ , as in don't be antisocial and interact with them.

He realized her intent, this was to be a test for him. A hands on experience on how to best 'socialize' and 'get to know' people. Merry had taught him that the basics on building a relationship was to be truthful and considerate to the person he's talking to.

So, after sitting themselves on a table and ordering their meals, he had tried just that.

"You guys have terrible teamwork, you should train together more often."

The redhead… dark knight, was it? Seemed to have taken it the wrong way and stood up; his mouth poised to heave a rebuttal only for his fellow redhead to silence him with a hand to his mouth and pulling him back down with it.

"O-oh… uh-uhm. Yeah… we should." The thief, Haruhiro if he remembered correctly said, shifting a bit on his seat.

"..."

"..."

"Ano… are those whiskers real?" Yume suddenly asked, keeping her hand enclosed on the mouth of a struggling Ranta.

"Whiskers...?" He held his hand to his cheek and his eyes lit up in realization.

"Oh, These are birthmarks."

"O-oh…" Yume's excited expression wavered a bit, then her eyes lit up, "...can Yume touch them?"

"Y-yume…" Shihoru, the lavender haired mage of the group chastised, pulling slightly at the hem of her sleeves.

" _Buuut Shihoru-chan_ , they're soo… _cute_!"

Ranta finally found an opportunity to wrench free from Yume's grasp. "Baah! What's with you and your obsession with cute things anyway? Look, maybe that's the reason your 'assets' are so tiny. Yume, if you don't break away from that you'll be cursed to remain tiny your whole life."

"That doesn't even make sense ...a-and don't call them tiny!" Yume crossed her arms to cover her chest while glaring at Ranta.

"I'll call them _whatever_ I want. _Tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny!_ "

The warrior, Moguzo gave Naruto an apologetic look at their antics, feeling a little bit embarrassed by the show his group was putting out. Haruhiro could only headdesk in shame as the occupants of the tavern watched the scene with amusement.

"...I don't mind."

Collectively, the group's heads turned toward the blonde in surprise. The blonde blinked, tilting his head to the side.

"...I don't mind if you touch them?"

The fact that the silent and intimidating blonde responded positively to Yume's request threw them off. But Yume, quick to recover, took advantage of the opportunity presented to her.

Reaching out across the table, her eyes alighted with wonder as she traced at his whisker marks.

"They don't feel any different…"

Blinking again, he replied, "Are they supposed to?"

"...Guess not…"

…

"Ahem."

The group jumped, sans Naruto, as Merry suddenly appeared from behind said blonde. She had her arms crossed to her chest, eyebrow raised at the scene before her. Naruto noted the light speck of pink coloring her cheeks.

' _She's been drinking.'_

"What a lively group you've got here Merry."

A voice interjected from behind her. It was a knight, dressed in armor with a tabard engraved with the symbol of the well-known guild Orion. The knight approached him, extending a hand out.

"I'm Hayashi, you're Naruto right?"

He nodded his head and shook hands with the man.

"Merry's told me a lot about you, actually that's one of the reason I'm here, I want to personally thank you for taking care of Merry here." At this Hayashi set a hand down Merry's head, ruffling her hair a bit making her frown a bit at him.

"...I see… what's the other reason?"

Hayashi laughed exuberantly, "Hah, straight to the point I see. I respect that… well, I'll be blunt. You may have heard of our guild, Orion. The guildmaster asked me to personally extend both you and Merry an invitation."

Naruto glanced at Merry, to which she replied with an even stare.

' _So, it's my decision huh?'_

He closed his eyes and pondered a bit. There's a lot of perks in joining a guild, especially one as big as Orion. For one, they'll have access to the guild blacksmith who'll maintain and repair their equipment for free, and will sell them equipments for a discount; Guilds also provided free lodging, food and of course, assistance in case one of their members are in a pinch.

But like all things, it came with a price. Freedom. Guilds acted as a collective, missions were assigned by the guild master and the members have no right to deny a quest. It sounded relatively close to how ROOT did it, and that didn't agree with him. Plus he liked the freedom to choose when to work and when to relax, it was a luxury he'd never had before and he wasn't willing to let it go anytime soon.

Shaking his head 'no', Naruto was surprised to see Hayashi let out another exuberant laugh.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Shame though, would've been nice to see you in action. From what I hear, you're really good at what you do."

Strange. This wasn't the first time they've been invited to a guild, but this is definitely the first time someone reacted positively to their rejection. Humans really are complex creatures.

"I see." Naruto replied with furrowed brows.

They've been receiving a handful of guild invites lately, not like it was any surprise to him; after all, it wasn't often one would come across a grinding party of two, even less to find one as reputable as them. The Daybreakers have yet to meet with him, and that bothered him. They must be waiting for an opportunity to present itself, what that is, he didn't know but it didn't bode well for him.

He scooted over to the side, allowing Merry to sit beside him while Hayashi opted to stand.

"There's another reason he's here." Merry hesitated a bit, having second guesses with her request. After getting an encouraging nod from Hayashi, she pressed on, "You're strong… Naru, stronger than anyone I've met and with you we finally have the chance to bring peace to my friends. So, just this once I ask, please lend me your strength. Help us kill Deathspots."

...

"What…? That's suicide!" said a surprised Haruhiro, his voice came out louder than he meant but sue him, this was just plain crazy. They had stayed relatively quiet, feeling slightly awkward and out of place from the topic. But Deathspots, who didn't know about that beast? The S-class monster residing in Cyrene Mines who had killed countless of volunteer soldiers, new and old; and here they were planning to three-man it.

He knew they were strong but he knew Renji's or even maybe Soma's group would be hard-pressed to fight against it.

Despite this, he was ignored. Merry and Hayashi awaited with bated breath for Naruto's reply, while Naruto himself contemplated with his answer. He didn't have to think long though. It was the first time Merry had asked something of him and he will do what he can to make it happen.

Incling his head, he nodded at her. The soft smile that formed on her lips caused his heart to flutter. There it was again, joy. How could such a simple action draw such a reaction out of him. He felt an inclination to keep that smile, and to do that…

"Hey… wait, wait. Oi, Lady! I want in on this!" Ranta interjected, pointing at Merry and earning a glare from her.

"Lady?"

"What's with that look? You don't scare me, I can call you whatever I want!"

Merry's icy glare intensified, piercing right through him, "No, you can't"

"F-fine! M-merry then I-"

"Merry-san." she corrected.

"...Merry-san, listen up, we… N-nevermind! D-do whatever you want..."

"I intend to do just that. I don't need you to tell me."

"...damn it, who does she think she is."

"Could you stop talking? Your vocabulary is filthy, should I wash your mouth with soap?"

"..."

And there it was. Despite the fact that Merry's personality had lightened up. Her cold personality or in Kikkawa's words, her terrifying personality surfaced itself to those she didn't like.

Even though she can be charismatic, she often chose not to show it. Instead, she'd opted for her usual cold treatment. So, people still avoided her and nobody ever had good things to say about her. Sure, people would hit on her, but that was just for her beauty. Though those brave enough to ask her out were rejected faster than you can say 'date'.

Haruhiro attempted to diffuse the situation, "Ah, sorry. Merry but he does-"

Her icy eyes shifted to him, "Merry-san" she corrected again.

"...S-sorry, Merry-san...uhm, he does have a point though. Maybe we can assist on your hunt?" Haruhiro shrunk, not wanting to be in the receiving end of her verbal lashing.

Merry was about to refuse, but her eyes catch sight of Naruto, and she felt reason come back to her. Naruto needed this, she told herself. He was making progress and she almost ruined everything with her outburst. Plus, they were offering to help her, perhaps she had been too inconsiderate. Taking a deep breath, her face settled back down to an impassive look.

"My apologies, we will gladly accept any help you're willing to provide." Merry kept an even-tone as she spoke.

"Ah… no problem." Haruhiro laughed nervously.

While most of his party members were giving wary looks to Merry, Yume gazed at her with eyes of wonder,

"Yume's groupin' up with Merry-chan?"

Merry flushed a bit, "Y-yume, please call me Merry."

"Okie Dokie~, pretty Merry!" Yume sang with a wink and an ok sign.

"Alright, well if that's all decided, we just have to decide on the schedule… Hmm, how about we meet together again in two days? Should give you guys enough time to resupply and prepare." Hayashi said.

"Hah, this is great! I'm sure Zodiac-kun will transform with a vice as strong as Deathspots." Ranta finally regained his earlier bravado, pumped up at the prospect of hunting a notorious monster.

The schedule for the hunt was essentially officialized as everyone else voiced their agreements.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

He did it. Finally, after countless hours of meditation he felt the foreign tug of his mindscape call to him, and he let himself go. His consciousness going deep inside himself.

Now he can deal with the fox and maybe even find the source of his inability to use chakra.

Naruto braced himself for anything, be it a sudden attack or a takeover attempt of his body, but nothing could've possibly prepared him for this.

"...Hinata?"

" ** _Ara ara, and here I was beginning to lose hope. Took you quite long to get here huh? Senpai."_**

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XXXX

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I have a story idea for a Naruto Tayuya fic. Still thinking if I should continue it or just finish this. For those curious about it, hmu. I'll give you the details.


	4. Chapter 4

I've decided to cut down the chapter lengths on each update by a bit. 10k words are just too much for one chapter. I do admit this chapter was a bit rushed so, I'll continue to revise it in the following days.

Edited: 10/18/2018

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XXXX

* * *

 _"Begin!"_

 _Lavender and yellow clashed, flashes of steel ringing out in the sparring room. To the civilian eye the two were no more than blurs, striking at each other._

 _"Agh!"_

 _It ended, almost as soon as it started._

 _The lavender haired girl fell to the ground, clutching her broken rib. While, the blonde haired boy slowly lowered down his extended leg._

 _"First lesson: Taijutsu."_

* * *

XXXX

* * *

This was wrong.

She shouldn't exist.

Logic told him it was Hinata, but his gut instincts were _screaming_ at him that it wasn't.

The way she held herself, her very nature was like an anomaly. Her presence leaked vile corruption, it disgusted him.

This wasn't her.

 **"What's the matter senpai? I thought you'd be thrilled."**

Even her voice was off putting but that wasn't all. Her skin was deathly pale like it hadn't seen the sun for years, it was covered with glowing red veins running up through her arms and face. Her brilliant blue locks had lost its luster, some would have mistaken it for gray.

It was all wrong. Everything about her was wrong.

"Who are you?"

The corner of her lips stretched to a malicious grin, " ** _Whatever_ do you mean? It's _me._** "

She approached him with a spring to her steps, " ** _Hi_ ~ _na_ ~ _ta_ ~**" ending with a skip in front him.

It _revolted_ him. Narrowing his eyes, he replied, "No. You're not."

...

Slowly, her grin morphed into a disgusted sneer.

" **Fine."** she spat, **"You're not wrong. I'm _not_ Hinata. Not anymore."** _'_

His glare faltered, replaced by a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

She made a clicking sound with her teeth,

 **"Now _that_ would be telling. Ah! I know-"** her eyes lit up in delight, **"how 'bout I show you?** "

The world around him shifted with a snap of her fingers.

When it was over, he saw large gate with a seal in front of it. It didn't take a genius to find out what it was or rather who it jailed.

The Kyuubi.

His brows scrunched together in confusion.

…the fox was nowhere in sight.

He suppressed a shiver feeling cold fingers trail along his back and her icy breath on the nape of his neck.

 **"Noow~ you understand?"** she trailed playfully.

He didn't. In fact, it confused him even further. Where is the fox? Why is Hinata so… different?

Something lapped at his cheek, Hinata gave a euphoric hum, squeezing herself further unto him.

 **"You taste as good as you look, senpai~ I might just have to keep you here for my mmh… _own_ use."**

"Where's the fox?"

 **"Now that's a shame. You _still_ don't understand?" **

For a second he thought he saw her eyes flash — ' _Oofh!'_ his breath was forcefully expelled as her fist rammed into him.

A resounding boom followed and he was blown away. It was so strong that it blasted away the water around them. His body hit the cell bars forcing a grunt of pain out of him.

Luminaris, did a train hit him?

Pushing himself up, he winced feeling one of his ribs protest against the motion. Looking up, Hinata chuckled, covering her mouth with an amused look on her face. **"Oh my. I didn't mean to hit you _that_ hard…"** her hands fell to her side revealing the malicious smirk on her face. **"Let's try again… shall we?"**

She blurred right before him, he only had enough time widen his eyes before she descended upon him.

Her blows were hard and precise. The flimsy guard he raised did nothing to protect him. He groaned as a powerful blow nailed him right on the solar plexus making his knees collapse from under him.

 _Splash_

Pain clouded his senses, his chest throbbed from the blow, making him groan in pain; but it came of as nothing more than a few gurgles of water.

He tried to lift himself up but his body refused to respond.

She grabbed a tuft of his wild mane, tugging his head up allowing him to take a huge gulp of air. Hinata tilted his chin up, forcing him to face her. Cradling his face, she cooed, **"This is a bit nostalgic no? Mh… How did it go again…? Oh!"** Her eyes alighted and she brought her lips close to his ear. **"First lesson: Taijutsu."**

She slammed his head down, splashing water everything and cracking the ground beneath it.

There was a ringing in his ears, like the sound of a thousand bell chimes. When he opened his eyes, he could see everything blurring together into a blended mess.

Where is he again?

For some reason, the world is now moving in slow motion.

Blood was coming out his nostrils so he reached out to wipe it. It felt like the arc was caved in. Great, it was broken. There was so much pain but at the same time he couldn't tell where it originated from.

By the time his senses returned to him, Hinata was on top of him, straddling him and raising him up by the tuft of his shirt. Coughing up a few splotches of blood he turned his head up to face her..

"W-why?" he rasped.

She gave him an incredulous look, like the answer to his question was an obvious one.

 **"Why…? You're asking me… why? Why? Why? WHY?!"**

She snarled slamming the back of his head into the ground.

 **"After what you did. You have the audacity to ask _ME_? WHY?"**

Her glare pierced him, peering straight into his soul, seeking answers. Everything was getting muddled up, but he managed to give her a confused look.

Hinata snarled again prepping to slam him again, but paused as a thought hit her. Her eyes opened wide in realization.

" **Oh. I see."** Her lips morphed into a smile, letting out a soft chuckle turning into a full-blown laughter, **"I see, I see, I SEE…"** she ended with a clap of her hands, **"Well played, Hinata…"**

Her gaze refocused on him, grabbing the tuft of his shirt and pulling him up to eye level. " **You lucked out today, senpai~ she saved your life _again._ There's no use killing you if you don't remember."**

Seeing his unfocused gaze, she frowned, snapping her fingers.

And just like that his wounds vanished.

It happened to fast it took him a bit to comprehend what happened. His mind whirling at the absurdity of it all.

Hinata loosened her grip on him, allowing him to land on both feet. Still looking at his hands in disbelief. Her hand caressed his cheek, licking her lips.

 **"I do apologize for the heedless violence… tell you what, I'll give you a pass, a freebee if you will. One time access to your chakra, no strings attached."**

"What do you mean?"

She dismissed his question with a wave,

 **"I do thank you for this nice reunion but I'm afraid you're of no use to me as you are now. Do come back when you remember, kay~?"**

"Wai-"

Paying no heed to him, she snapped her fingers and the world convulsed.

A purple vortex formed in the middle, and he felt a strong force pulling him in. He anchored himself on the ground, his nails scratching the surface of the sleek tiles, but it was futile.

 **"I look forward to our next reunion, senpai."**

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Naruto tossed around in bed, turning away from the rays blaring through the windowsill. Eventually he gave up, looking through the window; from the position of the sun he assumed that it was noon.

 _'Was it all just a dream?'_ he thought, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes. He pulled his shirt, checking the seal on his abdomen. _'It felt like a dream.'_

"Oi, Naruto!" someone yelled at him.

Looking down from the window, he saw Barbara waving a paper bag at him. "Good a — o-oi! wait! don't close— I-I brought lunch this time ok!" She waved the paper bag clutched on her other hand. "Hurry up and open the door."

Letting out a soft sigh, he put on a pair pants and went downstairs. Reaching the door knob, he could feel the impatient taps of her foot from outside. Twisting it open, he didn't even have time to welcome her before she barged in.

"Finally! What took you so lo-" Barbara paused, taking note of his state of dress. She gave him a short once over, letting out a small wolf whistle.

"Nice gains." she gave a hard pat on his chiselled chest; sauntering past him and setting the paper bag down on the wooden dining table.

Closing the door, he heard the clatter of utensils as Barbara finished setting down a pair of wooden bowls. With another sigh, he sat down on the chair adjacent from her's.

Barbara opened the contents of the bag, dumping it down the serving plate in the middle.

The spicey scent of fresh herbs wafted off the table.

Smoked herbal boar meat. One of Sherry's specialties. An _expensive_ meal.

He raised a brow at her in suspicion.

She glared at him in response, "Don't give me that look, I don't _always_ mooch of my friends. Plus! I repay my debts." she raised her head smugly.

...Right

He scooped a generous portion of the meal, filling his bowl halfway. Grabbing a fork, he dug in, allowing the sweet herby flavor to melt in his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the taste of the wild game. His companion gave a soft hum as she too, took her own bite of the meal.

"...so, what do you need?" he asked bluntly.

She gave him a look of indignation, "I told you, I was just thinking that _maybe_ I should repay _some_ of the coins I owe you."

"Uh-huh, what's the real reason?" he chewed at the piece of meat nonchalantly. Giving her a bored stare.

She matched it with her own piercing stare.

…

…

...

Letting out a sigh of defeat, she mumbled, "I was being honest, you know?" Looking him in the eyes, she continued, "...but yeah, the real reason for this is well, I'll be leaving for a bit. There was an order to come to the eastern border and my leader wants in. Apparently, the creatures there have been acting strangely lately. There's been frequent attacks and unusual creatures have been popping out."

"It's not exactly a short term mission so this as a farewell lunch of sorts."

"Oh."

Now that he thought about it, things would be different without Barbara. Other than Merry, he could safely say that Barbara was the one who hung out with him the most. Though her company can be… _is_ expensive, he wouldn't say he didn't appreciate her.

 _'And she is a good source of human interact— I mean people skills.'_

But he had to admit, he had come to like her presence. Barbara was annoying on occasions but he appreciated her. Things would be quiet without her.

"How long is the mission?"

A sly smile graced her face. "D'aww, look at you. I haven't even left but you miss me already. Don't worry, Barbara-senpai will write letters to you." she cooed, twirling her fork at him.

The blank look he gave, made her slump down. She muttered gloomily to herself while tracing dark circles on the table. At his chuckle, Barbara raised her head, ready to pick a fight with him but the look on his face froze her.

He gave her a soft smile. A true one. The first one he had ever given her.

"Barbara-senpai. Take care."

 _Lub-dub_

Huh, was that her heart? Her cheeks flushed at the sudden show of concern for her. She averted her eyes at him, masking her blush with an unladylike snort, "O-of course! d-don't you know who you're talking to. Heh, I am after all, _the_ best thief in Alterna."

"...when did you beat me?"

He was getting better at being… what did Merry call it again? Witty?

Barbara spluttered, her eyes narrowing as she fumed red, this time in anger, " _H-HAAAH?!_ I think I misheard you. Care to run that by me _again_?" She loosened her sleeves, pulling it up to her biceps while raising a fist at him.

...

He ignored her, chewing his food instead.

"Oi, don't ignore me Dead-fish!"

…

* * *

XXXX

* * *

It was almost dark by the time Naruto bid his farewells to Barbara. They had walked as far as the village gate before they parted.

Feeling a slight scuffle on the sleeves of his pant, he looked down to see a small critter that looked resembled a cross between a raccoon and an anteater. A mirumi. A docile creature often seen around human settlements.

It gave a couple sniffs at his pouch, and began to paw at it.

Ah. It probably smelled the dried jerky he kept for emergency. From what he knew mirumis fed off insects, but due to constant human exposure, a lot have taken to liking human food.

Its ears sprang up in delight, as he opened his pouch, taking out the prize it sought. It was quite… amusing, seeing its tail swish from excitement.

He played around with it for a bit, twirling the piece of dried meat tantalizingly close before pulling it back as it tried to snatch it. Eventually, he got bored and let the poor creature grab its treat.

It ripped at the fleshy treat like it hadn't eaten for days, and in a couple seconds it was all gone. It took a few sniffs at him before turning around heading the other way.

Mirumis intrigued him. Humans hunted them either for food or for their pelts, yet most of them remained docile, integrating with society. Of course, there are some lucky ones that are kept as pets, but a vast majority of them are treated like game.

His eyes trailed over the ringed stripes of its tail. Most likely it was headed to its nest… or maybe its owner? He couldn't tell, unlike the nin-dogs in his village, pet owners didn't tag their pets with collars here.

Now that he thought about it, it wasn't too long ago when his own 'collar' was removed from him.

A dull pain throbbed in his chest. He was given freedom... at the price of his partner's life. Speaking off… his eyes closed, his thoughts going to the dream he had today. It was… different. Often times, his dreams would comprise of Hinata dying and haunting him. This would happen in a loop until he'd wake up. Yet, this one. It felt real. The pain, the sensation of drowning, her words.

Was he missing something?

"Hmm...? Naru?"

He blinked, find the source of the voice.

"Merry?"

Looking around, he realized that the creature led him to a small cafe perched in one of the high hills of the village. There was a wide view of the village from the balcony, showcasing the natural beauty of Alterna. It wasn't an extravagant village but it had a simple outlook to it that made it a delightful sight to look at.

The mirumi stuck its head up, reaching out to her, before she picked it up and rested it on her lap.

"Ah. Is he yours?"

"She actually," she corrected, stroking its striped fur, "and no, I'm just one of her regulars. She comes up here for treats… and I often indulge her cravings." the creature mewled in delight to her scratches making the corners of her mouth twitch up a bit.

She extended a hand out, "Come, have a seat."

He sat down across from her, the metal handles of the chair was quite cold from the evening breeze. Must be why Merry has a short hoodie draped over her. After situating himself, he took the time to give her short once-over.

Merry was dressed casually, a pink hoodie draped over a white dress. She sat with her legs crossed, showing a bit of her unblemished thighs. That's surprising. He thought Merry to be a lot more conservative. It wasn't unwelcome though, in fact he had to admit that it accentuated her beauty.

Though he didn't show it, Naruto appreciated beauty. It was one of the reasons why he'd often go to the top of the Hokage monument. The view of the sunset blanketing the village in an orange hue was the best thing he'd ever beheld.

But the view before him took his breath away. He'd always known that Merry held an otherworldly beauty.

Yet this... Nature itself seemed to harmonize with her. The moon casted its rays down on her giving a radiant hue to her milky skin. The view of the village added a certain warmth to her. It was almost poetic, the moon emphasized her ethereal beauty, while the village represented the warmth of her humanity.

Picture perfect beauty.

Naruto was a bit disappointed when the waitress came by, disrupting the delightful view.

"...and you?" the waitress asked him.

He blinked, looking down at the menu at his hands. He had forgotten to order.

"I'll have the same as her."

"Alrighty, would you both care for some pastries, desserts?" she leaned in, cupping her mouth in a loud whisper, "personally I think the iumbolls _are_ to _die_ for."

"We'll try it." Merry replied.

The waitress gave short giggle and wrote the orders, "Ok, we're all set. I'll be back shortly with your orders."

Merry leaned forward, resting her chin on the back of her hands. There was an amused smile on her face, "I thought you hated ginger?"

Naruto blinked in response, "I do."

"You ordered ginger tea."

"... Oh." A strange feeling creeped over him like he wanted to duck his head under the table.

"So, care to share your thoughts?"

"I was distracted."

"Obviously," she rolled her eyes at him, giving him a knowing look, "the question is what distracted you?"

"The view."

Her brows scrunched in confusion,

"What do y— "

Her eyes widened in realization. Her cheeks flushed as she averted her gaze, somehow finding the railings of the balcony interesting.

"... did I say something wrong?'

Merry forgets how blunt the blonde thief could be sometimes, but at the same time be headlessly clueless about his implications.

She shook her head, turning her gaze back to him and giving another amused smile, "It's a work in progress."

For a short while, both of them just enjoyed the atmosphere and the company of each other. It wasn't awkward like the first time they met, it was peaceful. A welcomed silence.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"Bread fresh out of the oven! Come get your bread here!" — "Blades crafted by the finest smiths of Orario!" — "Prontera steel! Weapon selection of the finest variety!"

The village of Alterna brimmed with life as the vendors cried out to random passersby. The smell of fresh food, the chatter of villagers and adventurers alike blended in with the melodies of the lute and timbrel players.

It was quite peaceful. How nice it'd be to keep this period of rest.

"Hey runt, yeah you! Listen, I'll give you a special deal."

"Oi, who're you calling a runt old man?!"

Alas it was not meant to be.

"Ranta no!"

"Let me go, Yume! I'm teaching this old man a lesson!"

"Drop it. You're making a ruckus."

"Okay, now you listen here Merry Ah-I m-mean— M-merry-s-san! I—"

"I said. Drop it."

"Bu-"

Her scathing glare made him seriously rethink about finishing that sentence.

"..."

"Give him a break, Merry" Hayashi said, ruffling the priestess' hair making her turn her glare at him. But he merely waved it off as it lacked any real intensity to it.

"Hayashi." she warned, getting a chuckle out of him but conceded to her request. He didn't want to push her too far now, after all, he already owed her a favor for agreeing to join them today. But he knew that if it comes down to it, the most she'd give him is a cold shoulder.

Haruhiro trailed a bit further ahead, looking at the two from the corner of his eyes. He tried to keep a disinterested look but the way his eyes shone as it shifted over them was telling.

There was a tense silent after.

Though it was pleasing to see Ranta cowed down with words, Haruhiro began to wonder if his decision to help Merry was a good one. There was obvious tension between her and his group… maybe not Yume but — No. He couldn't think like that.

His attraction to her wasn't the only reason he wanted to help. Rather, their party was in dire need of a priest. Of all the classes, priests were the hardest to come by. They had the highest mortality rate and lowest recruitment rate. So, if they were to tolerate her presence enough to help — then maybe...

"U-uhm can we p-please m-move on? P-people are watching." Shihoru fidgeted in place, averting her eyes down. Moguzo nodding in agreement.

"Oh." That shook Haruhiro out of his trance. He looked around, as if only realizing now that they were the center of attention. Clearing his throat, he asked, "Uh.. anybody up for some soruzo?"

"Yup-yup! Yume thinks soruzo sounds good right now." Yume abruptly raised her hand, making the still struggling Ranta fall flat on his face.

"Ackh! Damn it Yume!"

Hayashi stroked his chin, "Hmm, I could go for some."

"..I'm a bit hungry myself." Moguzo said, rubbing his belly.

"It's decided then." Haruhiro said.

The group made their way to a low-key stall away from most of the attractions. The words SORUZO was spelled in big bold letters on the flaps. The colors have faded a bit but it added an authentic appeal to it.

After ordering, the group situated themselves on the counter. The air had a slight aroma of spices making Ranta salivate.

Soon their orders came, and after saying their thanks, dug in.

"Yum! It's so good! Soruzo's the best!"

"You're exaggerating Ranta… also you're getting snot on your food."

"Of course it is! It's going down like crazy! How could I not?! Haruhiro! Don't you see?! This soruzo is perfect!"

"I have to agree, this broth is incredible." Hayashi said, holding a spoonful of soup, "What do you think Merry?"

Merry gave a silent nod of approval, though her eyes were focused on Naruto who was staring intently at his own spoonful of broth.

"Naru?"

He blinked, her voice bringing him back to reality.

"Sorry, did you need something?"

She laughed a little, "I should ask you the same…" lips extending to a small smile, "something on your mind?"

The shift in her aura didn't go unnoticed by Haruhiro. It made him wonder what made her act so warm to the blonde as opposed to the cold way she treated most of them… well, him and Ranta maybe.

"Nothing really, this… food just reminds me of a certain dish in my village." he said, taking his first bite.

The dish was similar to ramen. A salty broth made off a selection of meat topped with yellow noodles and spices. The only difference was the lack of a boiled egg and the fact that most of the meat consisted of innards.

"Hmm? Which village are you from Naruto?" Hayashi asked.

Naruto wondered how to answer that, should he tell them the truth about his origins?

"He's from Konoha. It's a small village by the Thousand Valley, really easy to miss." Merry replied in a nonchalant way.

He spared her a glance but moved back to slurping down the soruzo.

"The _Thousand Valley_! Really? How're the orc raids? Oh, that must be why you're so good at fighting huh?" Hayashi said.

He gave a small nod in response, taking another slurp of the steamy broth.

"Come to think of it… we haven't encountered any orcs before." Moguzo remarked, cupping his chin.

"That's because most of them tend to stay in their strongholds, once in a while they come out to raid a village." Merry said.

Hayashi added, "There _was_ an incident where they attempted to raid Alterna, but it's been like… what? Ten years?"

"Hah! I say let them try! I'll take them all on then the ladies will swoon from the greatness of the great Ranta-sama. Muwahaha!"

Haruhiro rolled his eyes, "Sure they will."

"What was that Haruhiro— you calling me weak?! Do I need to prove myself to you?! Cause I'll prove myself if you want to?! Come on, you and me right now! Huh?!"

"R-ranta-kun m-maybe we shouldn't shout too much?" Shihoru asked meekly.

"Haaaah?! I can shout whenever I want, wherever I want!"

"Ok. Enough." he turned around, seeing Merry's piercing ice cold glare, "You're causing a scene. Shut. It."

Ranta made to rebut but Merry increased the intensity of her glare, "Y-yes ma'am."

...

Hayashi cleared his throat and broke the awkward silence, "Ah-hem, so uh — for tomorrow, we'll meet up by the north gate. Get a good nights rest and pack enough rations to last you at least half a day. Bring a sweater, the mountain pass to the mines is freezing cold. Any questions so far?"

Seeing none he nodded his head and turned to Naruto, "Naruto can I speak with you for a sec?"

The blonde glanced at him and give him a nod. They excused themselves, walking away from the group.

Merry gave Hayashi a glance, brows scrunched together.

Hayashi dismissed her with a wave and a laugh, "Don't worry — I'll bring him back in one piece."

She rolled her eyes, but smiled a little nonetheless, "...baka."

* * *

XXXX

* * *

The Cyrene Mines. A place that once was Aravakia's source of metals and resources, now home to numerous kobolds including Deathspots, the SS-class monster who's killed countless adventurers.

Naruto could see why the kobolds decided to make this place their abode. The inside was dim, not a problem for kobolds who relied more on their sense of smell. The cave floor was moist and slippery, jagged sharp protrusions jutted out of the cave wall in some areas. It limited the mobility of adventurers and amplified the maneuverability of kobolds.

The group huddled close together, taking careful steps and keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of movement.

Hayashi led the group from the front. He had the most experience in navigating the mines, barring Merry, who for obvious reasons shouldn't be the frontline of the group.

Haruhiro followed second, he was voted as the impromptu leader of the party because he knew most of the members.

He raised a hand in a stop motion, there was a soft pitter-patter of footsteps by the corner.

Turning to the group, Haruhiro gave them a nod, drawing his dagger.

Shihoru started first, chanting her spell silently, "Ohm-reil, ect Nem Dash." That was Shadow Bind, a mage spell that immobilizes creatures for as long as twenty-five seconds. Dark tendrils spilled forth from her staff, blending in with the ground, crawling forward until —

"Grrrruh?!"

"Now Yume!" Haruhiro yelled and Yume jumped from the corner, arrow nocked back on her bowstring.

"Take this!"

It missed the immobile kobold by a few inches and hit the cave wall behind it.

That was unfortunate, though it shouldn't be a problem. He counted about four kobolds, they outnumbered them two to one.

"Sorry!" Yume said, retreating to the back as Ranta burst forth with a forward thrust.

"Anger!"

[Squelch]

That took care of it.

Haruhiro turned to face the remaining three, but was alarmed to find them missing.

 _'Did they break through shadow bind?!'_

"Eek!"

What the heck?! They were crawling on the cavern roof!

One of them jumped down heading straight for Shihoru. Moguzo intercepted it with a swing.

"Thanks!" that was [Rage Cleave] otherwise known as the 'Thanks Slash' aptly named because Moguzo shouted the word 'thanks' every time he used it.

The walls crumbled from the impact of Moguzo's hit. Damn it! The kobold had ducked under his slash unhindered, still heading straight for Shihoru.

Arrows flew everywhere, Yume tried her best to keep them at bay, but the kobolds were dodging it effortlessly. At this point they were in range of Shihoru, who was doing her best to cast another spell.

"O-ohm r-rel- e-"

The three leaped at her, using their hind legs to propel themselves.

Panic came upon Haruhiro, and without thinking, threw his dagger straight at one of the kobold. By chance, it buried on its shoulder, staggering it a bit but it ignored the pain, raising its blade to finish her off.

"No!"

[Squelch]

What… the… heck?

Haruhiro rubbed his eyes, looking at the scene in unbelief.

Naruto had caught the kobold's wrist mid-swing, hooking his arm around its neck and using its own blade to stab its companion. At the same time he had anticipated the third kobold's approach and met its neck with a heel drop, finishing it off instantly.

[Crack]

And there goes the remaining kobold's neck.

Haruhiro marvelled at the way he moved. It was insane! He had claimed three lives all in one fluid motion. One had to have inhuman reflex and precision to do what he just did. Just… what is he?

"You guys are a mess." Merry sighed, running a hand through her hair,

Ranta gritted his teeth, turning to her, "Say that again?!"

Merry replied with a scorching gaze, raising her head as if to look down on him, like he was nothing but dirt, "You're trash, Aren't you a dark knight? What kind of dark knight leaves the backlines unprotected."

"Damn it! Who do you think you are?! Just because you're hot doesn't mean you can say anything you want! You just stand there doing nothing!"

 _'This is bad. Ranta's lost his cool.'_ Haruhiro thought.

Her glared turned icey, "If you thought before you acted you would've realized we could've killed them from afar without risking our lives. You are a detriment to this group. Do me a favor and grow a brain, idiot."

"That's! You… you're… it's.. Just… D-damn it. DAMN IT! Whatever. Do whatever you want."

"I always do what I want. Now stop running your filthy mouth. It disgusts me."

"I'm sorry! My bad! If it bothers you so much why don't you cover your ears?!"

"Why should I have to bother doing something so annoying?"

"Okay, okay" Haruhiro raised his hands placatingly, "He gets it. Ranta will think twice before he acts. That fixes it right?"

Merry tossed him a cutting glance, "Maybe, if you took your role as a leader more seriously we wouldn't need to fix anything."

 _'What did I do...? Why does she have to act so cold to me and Ranta. I didn't do anything to her. Though she has more experience as an adventurer, isn't she still equal to the rest of us?'_ He didn't have the guts to express his disdain, afterall, Merry terrified him as much as he was attracted to her.

Her words spoke true though. But he knew that. He knew he wasn't like Manato. He was trying though right? Couldn't they see that he was doing his best? He didn't ask to be the leader.

To his relief someone stopped her. But who would— it was the blonde thief, Naruto. The blonde had interjected himself in between them setting a hand on her shoulder,

"Merry."

They shared a look as if they were communicating telepathically. Haruhiro didn't understand what was said, but he was relieved to see Merry give out an exasperated sigh, dropping the matter.

She walked back to the backlines, followed by the blonde, opting to walk side-by-side.

Haruhiro ran a hand through his hair, rubbing his temples in frustration.

 _'What a mess.'_

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Till next time.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all the reviews and follows. Rest assured, I read through all of them and I appreciate it all. Criticisms and praises alike. On another note, I've been looking at this beta thing, and I might try it out. If anyone's interested feel free to message me. Enjoy.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

" _Are you sure about this?"_

" _I am,"_

" _There's no changing your thoughts then?"_

" _No,"_

" _...Ten miles."_

 _She smiled, one of the last ones he'd ever see "...Thank you… goodbye."_

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"Muawahaha! We're eating well tonight!" Ranta exclaimed, jingling the bag of coins in his hands.

"Not to ruin on your parade but shouldn't you try saving a bit? You were broke just earlier today." Haruhiro said.

"I had twenty coppers! Twenty! Do you know how much you could get with twenty coppers Haruhiro?! You could buy so many things — bread, soruzo, beer! With twenty copper the whole world's your oyster!" Ranta waved the bag of coin in front of Haruhiro, purposely making the coins jingle for no reason.

' _Why do I even bother?'_ Haruhiro thought.

"You hear me? Okay, I'll say it again! With twenty coppers the whole world's your oyster" Ranta said with a satisfied nod.

"...I'm sure we heard you the first time." Haruhiro rolled his eyes, muttering, _"Shouldn't have opened my mouth...I'm such an idiot."_

 _CREEK_

"A-ah! Yume-chan!"

Yume glomped Shihoru from the back, making the legs of the stool scratch the floor. Yume rubbed their checks together and said jovially, " _Shihoru-chan_ , lookie here! We have enough for that _cuute_ hat!"

"U-uhm, I don't know…"

" _Whaaa~?_ But you'll look soo _cuuute_ in it!" she whined.

While Yume continued to pester Shihoru, Moguzo inspected his own bag of coins, rubbing the underside of his chin in thought, "Hmm… with this… maybe I should get some ingredients and try my hand on soruzo?"

"Moguzo! My man!" Ranta clapped his hands on Moguzo's back, "that's a great idea but I'll do you one even better! We should make our own soruzo shop! I can see it now, 'Ranta and Moguzo's Soruzo Bar'... we'll make so much money we'll take over the world!"

Twenty silver coins, that's what their day's haul amounted to. It wasn't a meager amount by any regular adventurer's standards, so it was understandable for the group to be so overjoyed.

" _Naru._ "

But it was a scant amount by their standard. The hint of spite in her tone indicated that Merry was annoyed and she obviously didn't want to stay longer than necessary. So, he nodded his assent, allowing himself to be pulled along. The fact that she didn't even say her goodbyes to Hayashi showed how sour she must be.

He glanced at her as they walked, there was a frown in her face, but her eyes held a far away look. She seemed to be distracted by something.

From what he could tell, it wasn't just today's haul that annoyed her. His guess was that it was the group's dynamic, their reckless attempts to charge the front and leave their backlines unprotected must've reminded her of her late party. Though it did make him wonder why they often left the backline to fend for themselves… it was almost like…

"Hey… Naru,"

"Hmm?"

"I… " Merry hesitated, her mouth parted mid-way but then shook her head, "nevermind."

The frown in her face grew more pronounced, her steps becoming a bit more agitated. It doesn't seem like she'll talk about whatever it was... so, instead he figured it'd be better to change the topic.

"Merry, how about getting a few drinks at Sherry's?"

She turned to him, brows raised in surprise at his sudden request. Then her hand reached up to cover her smile, letting out a small chuckle, "That's quite a surprise coming from you."

Naruto furrowed his brows, cocking his head, "...Too blunt again?"

Merry shook her head, laughing lightly,

"No, you're good this time... but... you don't understand what you're asking," Merry walked a few paces ahead of him and turned on one foot. She bent her waist leaning forward with her hands to her back, smiling at him with her eyes closed, "Okay, I accept."

For some reason, seeing her like this made his heart race. The smile on her face is perfect and so… distracting. Confusing even. But still, how blessed is she with beauty, and it drew him in like moth to a flame.

"N-Naru… what have I told you about staring?" Merry flushed a bit, lowering her gaze but the smile hadn't left her lips.

"Oh. Sorry," he shook his head, idly fiddling at his necklace. He forgot. It's rude to stare at people for too long. Though he wonders... if it really is improper, then why does she look so... happy to see it? The glow in her face indicates joy… does that mean she enjoys seeing him make mistakes? Probably not... perhaps it was funny then? Possibly one of those 'inside' jokes he'd heard about.

Again, emotions are confusing.

For a while, they walked in relatively peaceful silence. Naruto spared a glance at the shop signs they passed by. There was quite an assortment of them: 'Wolfsmith Reforging', 'Britt's Local Apothecary', 'Morrocian Tanning and Leather Wea—

"Naru, can I ask you something?" Merry suddenly asked.

There was a serious look on her face like she was debating over something. He nodded giving her the go ahead to continue, "That necklace… it used to belong to someone else didn't it?"

" _Hinata?"_

" _What do you think, senpai…? Should I get it?"_

He paused in mid-step, running his thumb over the necklace. He'd wondered why he kept it all this time when all it brought was pain. It always did. But perhaps he had kept it to deal with the sense of loss. After all, no one truly wanted to acknowledge loss, so instead we claim a piece of it to hold forever.

"It did." he replied, continuing his steps. Merry followed along beside him, rubbing the back of her elbow,

"I'm sorry,"

He spared her a glance, looking at her in confusion, "What for? I don't recall you doing anything that warrants an apology."

She smiled at him but he could tell that it was a fake one, it didn't quite reach up to her eyes.

"Be that as it may, it's impolite to bring up something so… painful… it's just I…" Merry looked away scrunching her brows, "hear them ...sometimes… and there's just things that I see that remind me... it's like they're still here but they're not," her eyes glazed over as she spoke.

He didn't understand where she was going with this, but he understood what she meant. Her thoughts, regrets and emotions; he felt it all. This was… empathy, the 'ability' to share one's feelings.

Naruto felt compelled to say something, anything, but he didn't know the right words to say. He didn't want to admit it but Danzo's words resonated so true in times like these.

" _Grief is the price we pay for love."_

Fortunately, as Sherry's came into view, the tense atmosphere faded. Pulling the door open for Merry, he followed after her, letting her lead.

Sherry's is as packed as always, He said a few words of apologies as he bumped into a few random adventurers trying to keep pace with Merry. It's a good thing she kept a firm grip on his sleeve, he would've lost track of her with the amount of people crowding the place today.

Suddenly she stopped, her eyes turning to look at something. Following her gaze he saw Ranta and the others minus Hayashi waving at them.

He was just about to raise his hand to wave back but a slight tug of his sleeve interrupted him. Giving her a look in question but it was ignored. Merry continued on, pulling him ahead.

They found an empty table on the second floor. It was still pretty loud but it was less crowded now. After placing their orders, a tense silence followed.

...

Eventually, Merry sighed, turning up to meet his gaze. She raised her brows, giving him a small smile, but he could tell it was fake, "What?"

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine."

An obvious lie.

"So, Hayashi didn't want to come?" he pried with a raised a brow, following through her deflection.

Merry shrugged, looking down at the dancing drunks at the bar stage, "Who knows,"

' _Stubborn.'_

Heaving a sigh, he leaned back turning to the stage. Might as well enjoy the entertainment instead. He knew her well enough to know that it's pointless to pry further for now. It's usually better to just let her speak when she's ready.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"Gaah! What the hell?! … Who the hell does she think she is!" Ranta exclaimed, slamming his tankard of beer down on the bar table. "You see that?! The least she could do is nod! I'm telling you guys, that woman's bad news. Let's find someone else to replace her."

"There _is_ no one." Haruhiro countered, " _you_ were there yourself, there's no other priest that would join us."

"You should be a priest then, Haruhiro, how about that?!" Ranta yelled.

"No way," Haruhiro replied.

Absolutely not, Haruhiro admitted that he may not be the best thief out there but he was at least at home with the class.

"Damn it! You're _killing_ me here Haruhiro," Ranta whined, "How about you then, Shihoru?" He leant forward toward her, placing both his hands on the table.

"No." she leant back away from him and replied almost immediately.

"Yume?"

"Nuh-uh! No thanks! Yume's a hunter, now and forever."

"Tsch! Useless girl..." Ranta muttered.

"Hey! Yume's not useless, you take that back!" Yume said with a frown.

Ranta smirked, raising his chin high to look down at her, "Hah, there's no way, absolutely no way I'll do that! In fact, I'll even say it as many times as I want. Useless, useless, useless."

"Mou~ why are you such a meanie!" Yume whined.

"Look, we're getting nowhere with this," Haruhiro interjected, running a hand through his hair, "I understand that Merry's not like Manato, but at least we have a priest right? So, can we all just at least _try_ to get along with her?"

Yume spoke, twisting around a strand of her red hair, "You know, Merry-chan can be super cute too. Maybe we shouldn't be too judge-me-all"

"I think the right word is 'judgmental', Yume. But I agree, I don't think we should be too hasty in our decisions yet. We weren't exactly too welcoming to her either so, how 'bout tomorrow we all try to be nice to her and get to know her a bit?" Haruhiro said.

"Okay! Yume'll try extra hard to get close to Merry-chan, you can count on it!"

"I guess... I could speak to her a bit more," Shihoru said quietly.

"Yeah... and at least Naruto and Hayashi are nice enough, right?" Moguzo added.

"Yeah" Haruhiro replied, though he couldn't really get a read on the blonde thief, but so far other than being too blunt and... intimidating sometimes he had no complaints about him.

"What do you say Ranta?" Haruhiro asked, the group also turning their eyes to him expectantly.

Ranta crossed his arms turning his head aside,

"Well?" Haruhiro prodded,

"Agh! Fine, fine, damn it! Sheesh! I'll try but I'm not promising anything, and if this doesn't turn out well, it's on you Haruhiro, got it?!"

Haruhiro rolled his eyes, "Crystal."

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Naruto walked behind the group, observing the strange display before him. For some reason Haruhiro's group were acting a bit ...off? That's probably the right way to put it. The moment they met up, they had started asking Merry all sorts of questions like "Merry-chan, how's your day?" or "Merry-san, what do you think about the weather today?"

It was like they're forcing themselves into a conversation and Merry didn't look like she enjoyed it. Not one bit, now it was only a matter of time before—

"Ok. Why does any of this even matter?"

And as he expected. Merry's temper flared. The group became awfully silent, poor Yume looked like a puppy that was kicked by her owner.

Briefly, Merry made eye contact with him, but she averted her gaze, walking a bit more briskly. There was a… look in her eyes, he didn't recognize it but he doubted it was anything good. It's been happening quite often actually. Ever since they joined the party, Merry's also began acting off. He could tell, from the tense shoulders, how she always averted her gaze away from the group, and even the frequent act of running her fingers through her hair. She was — _is_ agitated somehow.

Maybe he should ask her… on second thought maybe not. He had no idea how to help her. He would if he could, but he can't.

Hayashi chuckled a bit, but even he looked a bit tense. He reached up to ruffle her hair, "H-hey, cool down a bit. They're just— "

Merry interrupted him, "Don't. Hayashi. Just not now."

His hand fell loosely to his sides. It seemed even Hayashi couldn't get through her today.

Fortunately, the entrance to the mines came into view just then and made them switch focus.

Naruto opened his pouch, taking another last minute scan of his supplies. Opening another compartment, he couldn't help the slight frown that escaped him, _'Two smoke bombs left, but I need to save one if I ever hope to make more.'_

It's awful not having a ninja shop. His kunai stocks were running low, pretty soon all he'll have is the brittle combat knives. He was lucky at the very least to have his tanto fixed back to prime condition, but he doubted the smiths here have the capability to fix it if it ever broke.

As they were crossing the bridge leading up to the mines, it shook from their combined weight. Somebody bumped into him slightly. It was Shihoru, the poor mage shook a bit, trying to keep steady while doing her best to keep her eyes from looking down.

"S-sorry…" she muttered.

It was understandable. The bridge was old and it swayed as they crossed it; Now if one were to fall from this height… he doubted that even shinobis would live through the fall.

"Let go of the rope. The bridge is old, adding unnecessary weight to its side adds up to the load. It's much easier to walk in the center." He advised.

She bit her lip, but followed nonetheless, "Thanks" she said softly.

"You're welcome." For some reason, her eyes widened slightly, like she saw something unbelievable. He wondered if he said something wrong again, but isn't it a proper response? ...Perhaps it's the way he said it.

Nevertheless it was time to focus on the matter at hand.

Haruhiro pressed a hand on the knob of the entrance, a stick held with his other, and he glanced at them, making sure that everyone is ready. After getting a few nods in reply, he pressed on. Haruhiro turned knob cautiously, leaving a bit of space between him and the door.

A few adventurers had been caught in an ambush going in, it didn't happen often but it still is a warrant for concern. Best to be cautious now than to regret it later.

The door clicked open and Haruhiro took a step back, slowly pushing it open with the stick.

It was a bit dark, but there were a few torches hanging on the wall that provided a little bit of light. So far everything seemed clear, no immediate sign of any kobolds in the vicinity.

Haruhiro reached up for his dagger, raising it in a guard position as they slowly trudged in, keeping their formation. Haruhiro led the front as the party's scout, with Hayashi following from behind as his second pair of eyes. Moguzo came in third acting as the party's _tank;_ Then came Ranta, the _off-tank_. So far, they decided that'd primarily make the frontline of the group.

This left him in the back, with Merry and Shihoru in front of him. Yume stayed a few paces ahead of them, allowing her the option of choosing between the frontline or the backline, whichever suited her the best.

He's actually pretty glad to be the rear-guard, this way it'd be easier to keep watch of Merry. This is afterall, the place where her friends died. Though she handled it better than some of the shinobis he led. It wasn't uncommon to see some shinobis lose their cool at seeing place where they've lost a loved one, and he found that out too late… but that was a story for another time. Still, she surprised him, with the way she kept her focus as they went deeper.

So far, it was mostly quiet, with the occasional howls from the inhabitants and the occasional clanging of metal from the forgers deep below. They tried to make as little noise as possible while maintaining formation but It's easier said than done, especially for Moguzo who had to lug around a huge blade behind him. To make it worse, the cavern floor stayed moist throughout which made the floor slippery. Occasionally, one of them would slip and lose their footing but thankfully one or two from the party would right them before they fell.

Though for him, it came as easy as breathing. All ROOT agents are trained to move with nary a sound; higher-ranked members like him go further and are trained to still even the beat of their heart.

Eventually they came to a stop, coming upon an opening on the ground. 'Wells' as most are prone to call them, which is the primary way most soldiers traversed the mines.

The Cyrene mines is divided into layers, there are ten in total. The top part which is the first three layers is inhabited mostly by lesser kobolds, which could be compared to a regular goblin in terms of strength.

Occasionally, adventurers find regular kobolds in the top part, but it wasn't very common.

From the third layer and below, a lift-like structure called a gondola are found spread out. The kobolds use these to move around layers quickly. However, according to Merry, these are heavily guarded by high-ranking 'elder kobolds'. It wasn't particularly hard to dispatch these things, but the gondolas has an alarm system built-in. Occasionally, naive adventurers would attempt an assault on these gondolas and come to regret it as they find themselves overran by a never-ending stream of kobolds.

Haruhiro set his bag on the floor, retrieving a rope. After nailing it down on the ground and making sure it was stable, he grabbed a hold of it and began his descent. This is one of the reasons the mines aren't very popular to adventurers, it's just a hassle to trudge into the more favorable hunting ground.

By the time they reached the third layer, Naruto had began to wonder why they haven't seen a single kobold yet. It's strange really, the first time in, it didn't take long for them to find their first encounter, the subsequent ones that followed didn't take long either, but today, not even a trace of a campground remained.

Maybe a guild came by and made a full sweep? That was highly unlikely though, there was not much glory nor gold to be had in that. It could also have just been a training event, but there are better and easily accessible sites besides the mines.

Perhaps Merry knows why...

"Merry," he said it only loud enough for her to hear.

...

Maybe not, trying again he called out, louder this time,

" _Merry,_ "

His voice seemed to have jolted her awake as her head snapped back to look at him, her eyes coming back into focus.

As if realizing that it was just him, she calmed down, turning to give him a questioning look.

He was wrong with his earlier assessment.

Merry's distracted. It wasn't very prominent but she was. He had thought that since she wasn't exhibiting signs of internal conflict, that she didn't have one.

"Is everything fine?" He rescinded his earlier question, maybe she needed time to get her bearings.

"I'm fine, don't worry," she flashed him a small smile, another fake one. Before moving on with nary a glance back.

He's starting to dislike it.

He'd pry for more but it looked like she didn't want to speak anymore, if the obvious way she avoided him seemed to indicate. He gave her a nod nonetheless but his mouth set itself down into a thin line.

He'll keep a lookout for her, just in case. Actually not just her, he'd have to keep an eye on everyone, he concluded after scanning the group.

Everyone was tense, he could see it from their stiff movements and the lack of coordination. This maybe the second time they've ventured in but it seems like everyone still has doubts of either their own ability or the stability of the group.

It needed to be addressed, but it wasn't something he could fix. They either have to overcome it themselves or it was the grim alternative…

They've just passed by the ruined form of an old gate, it was tilting a bit but it remained functional. It was a bit of a tight squeeze to get in, but they managed.

 _Crash_

Suddenly, they heard a crash and the ground shook sending dust particles everywhere. It was the gate. The gate was closed. They're trapped inside.

"N-no…" Haruhiro muttered.

"W-what the hell?!" Ranta exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he heard the pitter-patter of footsteps coming above, damn. How could he have missed this? It was an obvious trap, one that he would normally been able to spot from at least a mile away.

Then they heard the howls, multiple, numerous howls. It was hard to pinpoint exactly how many of them there were, but there was a lot.

This seemed to have woken up Haruhiro from his stupor and he shouted, "Everyone regroup over by that wall! Moguzo stay at the front — Ranta, Hayashi, Naruto and I will support you! Everyone else stay behind us we need to make sure we don't get flanked from all sides!"

It wasn't a bad formation, coming from a rookie. Moguzo will keep the frontline at bay while the four of them acted somewhat like 'bruisers' and clear any monster that slip through. This left the backline with the least pressure so that they could freely cast their spells or shoot their arrows in Yume's case. He'd have done the same, except for one thing…

"I'll stay in the front, take Moguzo with you."

The flaw in Haruhiro's plan is that it relied on Moguzo having the endurance to maintain his ground in a continuous onslaught. From what it looks like, it seemed like they're in for a fight with a huge wave of kobolds; and with those numbers he expected this to become a battle of attrition. Something that's hard for the heavily armored Moguzo.

However, he didn't have that problem. After all, he had fought in battles that have lasted for days, weeks even. Something like this...

This prompted Moguzo to look at Haruhiro for confirmation to which he nodded.

Good. They seem to trust his judgment at the very least.

Naruto drew the blade in his back, the steel shimmering from the light slipping through in between the small cracks of the cave ceiling. This seemed to have prompted everyone else in the group to raise their guards as they waited for their attackers.

Suddenly the cave shook again.

Naruto lowered his base to help him maintain his balance. His eyes kept watch over his surrounding, scanning for any movement.

There.

He watched as a huge boulder was slowly rolled over to the side, revealing… ten? Twenty? No… there was more. He'd lost count by the time he reached fifty but he could tell that there was at least fifty kobolds in that group.

"Everyone keep your wits about you, we're not dying here!" Naruto approved of Haruhiro's attempt to keep a brave face, but the shaking of his wrist was telling.

Moguzo wavered a bit and asked, "H-hey, but th-that's quite a lot of them, don't you think?"

"Uh… exactly... how many kobbies are we supposed to fight?" Yume gulped, pulling back her bow string slightly, but even she trembled a bit when she saw the number of kobolds headed their way.

"H-hah! Hah! Hah! What do you mean Yume? This just means that I'll have more vices to offer Lord Skullhell!" Ranta boasted, but the slight falter in his voice showed his true feelings.

"Merry, this… we've never encountered something like this before, right?" Hayashi asked, his eyes scanning their numbers in disbelief.

Merry gave him a grim nod, in reply.

" _Just… what the hell is this?"_ Hayashi muttered.

Naruto frowned as he observed their reactions from the front.

Not good.

The first and most important part of a battle is the fight to overcome the fear of death, or at the very least, be able to mask it with something else. But the way they were going about this… it wasn't going to end well.

" _Naruto, tell me, why was the Fourth Hokage hailed as the man who single-handedly won the war against Iwa?"_

" _Because he can wipe out a thousand shinobi in an instant."_

 _Danzo chuckled, "No, not at all. That is a myth, a lie Hiruzen created. The number of Iwa-nins was greatly exaggerated, if I recall, there was only about fifty. The Fourth Hokage won the war because of the morale he brought just from his presence alone. Such is the benefit of emotions, a pity that it is only a few and far between."_

It's funny how one's perception could either cripple oneself with fear or revitalize them with courage.

He closed his eyes at the thought, before he snapped it open as his brain whirled into focus.

' _The fourth huh?'_

A ghost of smile slipped past his lips as the kobolds charged, getting closer and closer…

"Here they come!" Hayashi warned.

Suddenly, he blitzed forward, breaking formation and charging straight at the large group head-on.

"H-hey hey! What the hell are you doing man?!" — "Whisker-kun?!" — "N-naru?!" — "Damn it, come back here!" Naruto merely ignored their yells as he focused on the task at hand.

He first clashed with a dagger wielder, who went for a straight lunge with its weapon arm extended. He merely swiped its elbows shifting its trajectory as he countered with his blade bisecting the beast in half. He caught the fallen kobold's blade as it dropped from its lifeless corpse, and flung it directly at his next opponent.

It struck true, piercing the kobold in the skull sending brain matter flying everywhere.

One tried to flank him from his side, but its movements was as clear as day for him. He shifted over to the side dodging the attack, simultaneously catching another kobold by the arm and driving its own blade through its companion's back. He immediately took the sword-wielder's head off with a quick swipe. Without stopping, he drew a hunting knife from his pouch and swiped up, his new opponent let out a yelp as it fell to the ground, clutching at its bleeding neck.

Naruto threw his knife up and jump kicked it, earning him another yelp from a random kobold, he didn't bother to see where it hit. A hit was a hit, his goal was to cause as much damage as possible.

' _That should do it,'_

Drawing five knives and slipping his fingers in each ring, he jumped back and flung it in an arc. Five dropped down, with three dead from a vital wound while the other two clutched at a crippling wound.

He jumped back to formation, raising his blade up in a guarded position as he steadied his breath.

Haruhiro jaw dropped as he marvelled at him, disbelief written all over his face. In span of a minute, he had downed ten kobolds… what the actual…

"Lumiaris, Merry wasn't exaggerating," Hayashi exclaimed, he cracked open a grin as new found confidence settled in, "We might just get through this."

"O light, return to Lumiaris' divine protection… [Blessing]!"

Naruto felt a surge of power envelop him as Merry's buff took into effect. Blessing, a priest skill that amplified the party's speed, strength and stamina. It also lessened the feeling of fatigue for as long as the spell was in effect.

"Damn it! I won't let you hog all the glory again! I need my vice! ANGER!" Ranta yelled, lunging forward at an isolated kobold.

Shihoru followed up on his attack with [Shadow Bind], paralyzing the kobold, "Om-reil ect Nem Dash."

The poor kobold could whimpered helplessly as Ranta drove his sword through its chest, "Got my vice!" Ranta yelled.

"THANKS!" With one swipe, Moguzo drove three kobolds straight to the cavern wall, sending a huge shockwave as dust particles once again covered the area.

Haruhiro capitalized on the opportunity and snuck up behind a blinded kobold, he grabbed it by the neck and followed up with a [Backstab]. He wedged the blade in between the two bones of its back shoulder, possibly hitting a lung, then he tugged, wrenching the dagger free, the kobold collapsed on the ground, twitching a bit.

He wiped away the blood on his face and looked up — _'Crap!'_

Haruhiro landed on his butt, barely dodging a swipe that would've taken his head off, he raised his dagger to parry its follow up attack.

"Haru-kun move!"

He jumped over to the side just as an arrow sailed past him and nailed the kobold right on its snout. It yelped, clutching its nose as copious amounts of blood covered its hands. Then it turned, making a move to run for it.

' _No you don't!'_

Haruhiro made a lunge for it, a sudden burst of adrenaline surging through his legs as he tackled the beast from behind. He landed on its back, and immediately locked his legs on its waist. Then, he drove his dagger repeatedly as it yelped, struggling to shake him off. He didn't know how many times he stabbed it but by the time he stopped, the kobold laid still with its back mangled beyond belief.

He wiped his face clean off the blood, heaving out loud labored breaths. He heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming from behind and he turned just in time to feel the wind strike his eyes as someone whipped past him at inhuman like speed.

His vision cleared just in time to see Naruto cut down three kobolds in one fell swoop, and continued on, just leaving a trail of corpse at his wake.

' _I-Impossible, no one should be able to move that fast! '_

Haruhiro marvelled as Naruto countered against two simultaneous attacks, effortlessly dispatching the two kobolds in one quick swipe. By this point, the remaining brutes have realized that this was a fight they weren't going to win and have taken to running with their tail in between their legs.

"They're retreating! Take out as many as you can!" Hayashi yelled from the back.

He watched Naruto continue his pursuit, taking care of the few remaining stragglers; He couldn't help but marvel. Naruto's amazing, His strength and speed… it's inhuman! So, _this_ is a full-fledge soldier. It is what he aspired for himself and he felt just a tinge of envy seeing how easy it seemed for the blonde.

This guy… he was every bit of person Haruhiro wanted himself to be.

Haruhiro gritted his teeth. Fate could be so cruel sometimes, didn't he train as much as everyone...? Didn't he sacrifice blood, sweat and tears to gain strength…? Why then is he so weak…?

" _...ru-kun"_

Renji, Soma and now… Naruto. All powerhouses at their own right… just how are they so strong, he wanted to be strong too!

"Haru- kun…?" Haruhiro felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to the curious eyes of Yume, looking at him with concern, "everything alright?"

He shook his head, scratching the back of his head and giving her a smile, "Y-yeah, sorry, I spaced out a bit there."

"No worries! Hayashi-kun asked us to start ruffle-ing through the kobbies' belongings. So let's get to it, Okay?"

Haruhiro chuckled, shaking his head again, "The word you're looking for is 'rifling' Yume"

"Hayashi," Merry called out with a frown, scanning through the belongings of a deceased kobold. Hayashi glanced at her, prompting her to continue, "this is… there's something unusual, don't you think?"

He pursed his lips, a small frown also forming on his face, "Yeah, I was wondering about that too."

"What do you mean?" Haruhiro interjected, his brows scrunched in confusion a look mirrored by everyone else.

"These are all regular kobolds. That in itself is unusual but what's even more strange is that they're missing their chief... kobolds travel in packs, but each pack always has a single chief." Merry started, "but this group had no leader, they acted autonomously and even still they coordinated their attacks well…" Merry raised an object clutched in between her thumb and her pointer finger, a nose ring with a symbol emblazoned in the center, "What's more, every pack member should have the same symbol engraved here… but look around."

None of the symbols matched which meant these kobolds are all from different packs… but why...?

* * *

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* * *

"No."

"Ah… well next time maybe…?"

"No."

At this Haruhiro deflated, Merry continued to walk away without care, the same impassive look on her face. Then she stopped leaning back to glance at them,

"Naru, are you coming?"

It sounded more like an order than a question, but regardless Naruto nodded catching up to walk beside her.

Though he didn't understand why she continues to reject their invitation to Sherry's. It's a good natured one, they wanted to get to know her, build a relationship with her. But for some reason, she stayed adamant on keeping her distance.

When they were out of range, Naruto sent her a questioning look, which again, she ignored. But curiosity got the best of him this time, so he persisted, "Why don't you take their offer?"

The question must have surprised her, Merry stopped suddenly, before a frown once again settled on her face, "No reason."

"Are you okay?"

"Do I look unwell?"

"You've been acting different since we joined them."

"Am I not entitled to change?" she said it with a snap, warning him not to go any further.

…

"You're avoiding."

Merry sighed and sent him an exasperated look, "And you're annoying. Why are you asking so many questions."

At this he fell silent, a frown also settling on his face. He shouldn't push her anymore, her temper's much worse compared to yesterday.

So, they continued on in silence, a thick atmosphere of tension now surrounding them. A tension Merry couldn't bare it seems.

"Look. I'm sorry, just forget about it, okay?" she shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"...do you hate them? If so, we can leave." he said.

She shook her head again, "No, no… that's not it at all."

"What is it then? I don't understand."

She snapped, turning to him with a glare, "Didn't I — "

But...the look on his eyes… he looked at her with eyes filled with just concern. Just pure care for her well-being. It withered any trace of anger she had, like water extinguish the embers in her heart.

' _N-no… th-that's just unfair.'_

Merry closed her eyes, resigning herself. When she opened it, she averted his gaze to the side and muttered, "We can't stay with this group. Their coordination is… dreadful. It's best we leave before we drag them to their deaths, or worse, they drag us to our deaths."

"What about Hayashi?"

She scoffed, "What about him? He can come, if he wants."

He said nothing at first, but it seems like she's still adamant on maintaining a lie, "I disagree,"

Merry looked at him like she misheard him,

"Pardon?"

"You noticed it too, didn't you? They're weak, but they've made that weakness theirs. They each have their own flaws but they've made it so that those flaws are covered by another's strength. But they're missing a key piece… my conclusion, they lost their priest."

She remained silent for a bit, but shook her head with scoff, "You expect me to fill that role?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, because that's not the real problem."

He watched her pull a stray lock of hair back behind her ear. It's best to tread lightly now.

She stopped abruptly, looking him, "And what pray tell is my problem then, hmm?" she snapped.

For some reason, this time, he knew not to say it directly, but nevertheless, she had to deal with this. Even someone like him, could tell that it was eating her up. Subconsciously, he spun his necklace between his fingers.

"I won't let them die."

There. That struck her, if the slight widening of her eyes seems to indicate. He didn't need to say anything anymore.

He didn't need to say what she already knew.

' _They remind you of them.'_

The rest of the night went on in awful silence.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Till next time.


	6. Chapter 6

Here with another chapter. A bit short this time. Next one will probably come after finals.

Edited: 12/11/2018

* * *

XXXX

* * *

 _The sharp cracks of a whip echoed in a dark room._

 _Crack_

" _997"_

 _Crack_

" _998"_

 _Crack_

" _999"_

 _Crack_

" _1000"_

 _Through it all, he withstood pain. It's fine. He'd have taken another thousand lashes if it gave her another ten miles._

* * *

XXXX

* * *

Haruhiro pulled at his coat, shivering a bit, each breath coming out like cold mist. He extended a hand out in front of him, catching a stray snowflake in the air.

' _It looks to be about that time already'_

It seems like Alterna only has two seasons, summer and winter. Didn't that mean it was located close to the equator or something...? At least that's what he remembered from his science...class?

Unconsciously, his face scrunched back to a ponder, _'Science…? What is science…?"_

It'd been this way for a while, he'd remember words, flashes, visions of a different world; A world of metal horses and tall towers reaching up as far as the sky. A familiar world he couldn't recognize. According to Bri, it's the same for everyone. No one knows where they came from or how they arrived. It just… happens.

How long has it been since they've arrived? Two months? It felt longer than that. Though in that short time, they've accomplished a lot. They've each taken a class to specialize in, their 'job'. He became a thief, Ranta became a dreadknight; Shihoru, a mage; Yume, a hunter; and Manato… their priest.

They've come a long way from the group that struggled and panicked against a single goblin; They trained, slowly taking on larger groups, improving with every battle and surely enough as they kept on, they got stronger, getting better gear and learning new skills.

But then… they encountered a… _beast_. He couldn't tell what it was, even now, no one could truly recall a full account of it, but it was monstrous. A giant. Strong, ferocious and agile, by the time they saw it, it already got Manato… and they had to— they just had to—

"Morning Haru-kun!"

The dark look faded away from his eyes, his head whipping back at Yume's sudden greeting. He saw Shihoru beside her giving a small wave and a smile. He reciprocated the motion, giving them a nod and a smile.

"Morning Yume, Shihoru."

Yume looked around, as if only now noticing that he was by his lonesome, she brought a finger to her lips, tilting her head, "...huh? Where's everyone?"

"Ranta woke up late again, you know how he is." Haruhiro gave a sigh, shaking his head, "Actually scratch that, he was awake but he wouldn't get up. By the time he came out, the food was already cold, I guess Moguzo felt a little bad for him and reheated his breakfast, but they should be here soon though."

As if on cue, they heard Ranta's loud voice and the two of them approaching from a distance.

"As for the others…" he shook his head, he didn't know where they are. He wondered if something happened last night. They were usually the earliest of the bunch.

After waiting for what felt like half an hour, Haruhiro was about to call it quits only for the three to finally arrive. In a way he didn't expect them to.

"Oh look, there they are!" Yume pointed at the figure of three silhouettes.

' _Huh?'_

His brows scrunched in confusion at seeing Naruto carrying a disgruntled Merry in a piggy-back. Her signature frown in place, with her gaze casted aside.

No, wait. Haruhiro blinked, rubbing his eyes.

...is she… pouting?

He shook his head, must be fatigue getting to him. Those damn hays wouldn't flatten and kept poking his back last night, keeping him awake the whole time.

"Hayashi-kun, Whiskers-kun, Merry-chan!" Yume said, waving her arm.

Hayashi arrived first, scratching the back of his head and chuckling in embarrassment, "Morning Yume, Everyone. Sorry we're late, seems like someone had a little bit too much to drink last night and wouldn't wake up." At this he sent a teasing grin to their resident priestess.

Merry didn't bother to give him a response, instead opting to bury her head further behind the blonde's shoulder trying to alleviate the pounding on her head. She'd have glared at Hayashi but it would've just amplified the splitting pain in her head.

Yume craned her head forward with a tilt, taking a closer look at Merry, she placed a finger on the bottom of her lip and asked, "Mou? What happened?"

Besides, a soft groan that escaped her which sounded closer to a pained mewl than anything else, Merry didn't respond.

So, Naruto answered for her, "It's just a mild case of hangover, nothing to worry about."

"No, no, no," Yume waved both hands in front of her, "Yume meant to ask for the reason Merry-chan drank so much last night?"

"Oh, my apologies. I misunderstood." he spared a glance at his resident passenger, before turning back to Yume, "... I am afraid I can't help then, as I am unsure for her sudden desire for intoxication."

It wasn't really a lie, though there's a good chance it had to do with their talk last night. She was awfully quiet the whole night after their conversion, and for a moment he thought she'd gone about it the wrong way, but thankfully she didn't, still either way it wasn't his story to tell.

He continued, glancing behind at Merry, "...though I did warn her beforehand of the repercussions of her intake"

That got a reaction out of Merry, she opened an eye and gave him a mild glare, "Shut it."

A small smile wormed its way across his face, she tried to maintain the intensity of her glare but she couldn't, instead she averted her gaze slightly aside.

Haruhiro said, "O-oh, then maybe we should take a day's rest? There's always tom— "

Merry interjected with a snap, "Can we _not_?" she pinched the bridge of her nose, stifling a dull ache in her head, "I'm fine, it'll wear away soon, don't worry about me."

It was bad enough that what Hayashi had said made it seem like she was a drunkard but there was absolutely no way she'd let herself be a deadweight with a dumb hangover.

No one voiced their argument, not like anyone would dare argue against an irate Merry. They've seen how vicious she could be with words. A verbal lashing from her is not a pleasant experience.

Hayashi snickered, muttering slyly, loud enough for everyone to hear, " _Strong words for someone who can't walk_."

"Care to repeat that?" the ice in her voice was unmistakable, daring him to speak, but it only made Hayashi snicker even more.

"Are you implying that there's another reason why you're not walking on your own two feet right now, huh Merry?"

The sight of the mortified expression on her normally aloof face was well worth the growing bruise on his face, courtesy of her travel pack.

Lumiaris, it's so fun to mess with Merry.

For her part, Merry tried her best to settle the growing flush on her cheeks, but it was hard, especially since it'd caught the attention of the others. Finally she was able to right herself and she gave them all piercing glares, making them turn away, before settling her cold gaze at Hayashi.

He raised both hands at her in surrender, it seems like he got the point. Though that damnable smirk remained on his face.

The stupid idiot.

She could walk just fine, for a second, she considered unmounting herself from her glorified carriage ride but another wave of nausea hit her making her bury her forehead on the nape of Naruto's neck. It alleviated the pain a bit but the desire the spew her breakfast remained.

Blearily opening her eyes, Merry spared a quick glance at her companion.

Besides, he offered, and it's not like this is the first time they've travelled in this way. On the contrary, before joining the party, this was their primary means of travel. It was extremely convenient for them as Naruto's speed alone doubled, if not tripled the time spent on travelling.

Couldn't he see? It is only logical, there was nothing special about it.

It's not like Naruto would have those thoughts right?

Merry spared another glance at the blonde, this time he'd craned his head back just in time for them to meet eye to eye and she quickly averted her eyes.

Hearing a snicker beside her, she saw Hayashi sending her another teasing grin, which was promptly wiped away with an icy glare. It didn't stop the light chuckles that escaped him.

Naruto blinked with a cock of his head, looking at her confused.

With her gaze still averted, she huffed, sending another piercing glare at Hayashi, "It's nothing, Hayashi's just an idiot."

She felt him shift his grip on her legs, holding her more securely, snugly; from here she felt the warmth he exuded, it was almost like…

" _Merry."_

"If you say so." His gaze lingered for a bit before turning away.

Merry bit her lip, feeling something surface from deep within herself, but she held herself together; Finally, with a sigh, she closed her eyes, allowing herself to recuperate enough rest for the day's activities.

' _Nothing special at all.'_

* * *

XXXX

* * *

There's something ominous in the mines. Naruto couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that there's something sinister lurking within.

Could it be Deathspots?

After all, its threat level is ranked pretty high in the bounty hunter's guild, just short of being classified as a Monster Rex.

Maybe… but there was just something different about it… almost familiar.

As they traversed deeper once again on the third level of the mines, the feeling intensified. It almost felt familiar, like he'd encountered it before, but he still couldn't tell.

He buried the thought for a moment as his ears perked up at the sound of the familiar pitter-patters of an approaching kobold. It seems like Haruhiro has as well. Haruhiro signaled them to stick to the walls, as they each readied their weapons for the upcoming controntation.

Closing his eyes, he focused on his senses. From the look of it, there was three… no — four of them. He didn't hear any clacking of steel or iron, which meant they were all lightly geared, possibly leather or cloth.

" _...Blessing."_

The soothing warmth of Merry's magic ran through his veins, empowering every muscle and giving him a feeling of exhilaration. He felt his senses sharpen even further, now he could even hear Shihoru's soft chant as she prepped her spell, awaiting Haruhiro's signal which should be right about…

" _Now, Shihoru!" —_ "...Ect Nem Dash!"

Shihoru's magic launched upon the unsuspecting kobolds, snaring three of them in Shadow Bind's tendrils. Immediately, Yume nocked an arrow back and shot one in the head, killing it instantly. Meanwhile, Haruhiro felled another with a well-placed [Backstab].

"Got my vice!" was Ranta's shout as he claimed the life of the other.

With that, only one remained. A mage from the looks of it.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at seeing a large ball of fire beginning to form over it. It was growing to about the size of a [Great Fireball Jutsu]. Not good, whatever it was preparing was devastating, he needed to stop it immediately.

He quickly dashed toward it, maneuvering his way through the slippery terrain with not a single misstep, soon he was in range, and he lunged straight with a stab.

Just as he was about to hit, his kunai met a resistance. A force-field of some sort. He gritted his teeth pouring even more strength into his blade, trying to break past the barriers, then like the sound of breaking glass, it shattered.

His blade quickly sheathed itself into the kobold's heart, but it was too late. The spell was already in effect.

" **...I-Ixen G-Garmth!"**

The fireball levitated up, growing further in size, then it started rotating, circling faster and faster, then with a resounding boom it launched itself toward him.

As Naruto prepared to dodge, he felt the same familiar presence from before followed by a sharp spike of pain. It was so crippling that for a second, no matter how much he tried his body wouldn't move. Finally, just as the fireball was about to hit, whatever it was that bound him released.

Naruto sucked air through his teeth as he just narrowly leapt away from the almost point-blank spell. Then his eyes widened seeing the fireball's trajectory.

It was heading straight for Merry and Shihoru.

At the rate it was going. He wouldn't be able to reach them in time.

Fortunately, he didn't have to.

Moguzo acted quickly and ran toward them, slamming his blade in front of him; Using the flat side as a makeshift shield. The warrior braced himself against his sword, readying himself for the incoming impact.

"S-Stay behind me." Moguzo stuttered, sweat running down the sides of his head from the sudden increase in temperature.

Realizing his intentions, Merry and Shihoru quickly fell behind him, curling themselves to expose less surface area to the licks of blazing flame.

With the spell approaching at a fast rate, the heat grew even more intense, culminating until finally.

Moguzo was almost blown back as the spell impacted against his sword, luckily the material was sturdy enough to withstand the blast. Though it didn't make it any less painful for him, as the heat channeled unto the blade, searing unto his flesh.

"Grkh… Grhk….! Grhaaah!" Moguzo couldn't contain himself, he was literally being roasted alive.

Eventually, almost mercifully, it ended. The spell dying into soft embers.

When the smoke and debris cleared, Naruto saw the full extent of devastation the spell has wrought. There was a wide trail on the cave floor, extending all the way up. Thanks to Moguzo, Merry and Shihoru only suffered minor burns, but Moguzo…

"M-Moguzu-kun?" Shihoru started, reaching out to him, almost hesitatingly.

Melted steel coated Moguzo's arms which bled profusely, part of his ear having been melted off. There was a noticeable putrid smell of burnt flesh from his wounds. His breathing was erratic, almost like he was heaving for air. It's a wonder that he could even stand in such a state.

"M-Moguzo, s-sit down." Even Merry looked shaken at him.

He didn't respond still clutching his sword, eyes glazed over, lost in an almost trance-like state.

"H-Hayashi, help him down, _please._ "

It took some effort in Hayashi's part, considering Moguzo's size, but he was able to settle him down without opening more wounds. Immediately, Merry chanted her spell, "O light, return to Lumiaris' divine protection… [Heal]."

Unlike [Cure], [Heal] affected every part of the body, it was used for more serious injuries as it consumed a huge portion of a priestess' magic.

Though Naruto had to admit to its effectiveness, Moguzo looked a whole lot better now, but his arms still needs to be treated. [Heal] couldn't remove the melted steel that clung to his flesh, he needs an apothecary for that.

This is why priests are the most sought after class in Grimgar. Unlike the [Mystical Palm Technique] which used the target's lifespan to speed up the body's natural healing, [Heal] literally regenerated the target's afflicted parts, with no consequences whatsoever. It shows why they're always targeted in a party.

Soon enough, Moguzo stood up, looking no worse for wear besides the metal plates lining his arms. He looked just as Merry stood up,

"...Sorry." it came out as a whisper, yet the sincerity of it wasn't lost. They all looked in shock at Merry, unable to comprehend what she just said.

They heard Ranta muttering to himself, while rubbing at his eyes, "Lumiaris, she _apologized_ … am I dreaming?"

If Merry heard him, she didn't show any reaction to it, still keeping an apologetic look at Moguzo.

For a moment, Moguzo stood wide eyed, not really knowing what to say. He rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze casted aside, "U-Uhm, it was… that is to say... I mean, y-you're welcome, Merry."

Despite the situation, Naruto felt a small smile slip. This is the true Merry. A kind, caring individual who couldn't stand seeing those around her hurt. It is refreshing to see, almost like a weight was removed from his chest.

Though he couldn't help the slight guilt that creeped up to him. Merry had almost lost her life along with Shihoru, this time due to his own miscalculation… if it wasn't for Moguzo… even though he told her wouldn't let anyone…

He couldn't afford this.

His narrowed his eyes, before peering through the dark cave, scanning every corner.

' _No sign, no trace.'_

Whatever it was that he felt it was gone now, but whoever or whatever it was must've been the one to cast that spell on him. Though he couldn't understand how it had eluded his senses. In his time in ROOT, something like this wouldn't have escaped him.

Maybe he's become rusty, lax even. The world had dulled him to the point that he'd become careless since he'd perceived that the creatures here weren't much of a threat to him and maybe it was true, but only for him, it wasn't the same for his companions.

He couldn't afford any more errors, no room for carelessness. It was what had caused her death after all. With that, a sheen of resolve flashed in his eyes for but a second, then it was gone; but the promise remained.

"We probably should call it quits for the day, despite Merry healing Moguzo, we probably still should get those arms checked up." Hayashi said.

Everyone else nodded, after picking up the loot from the corpses, they ventured their way out of the mines.

"Y-You apologized! You actually apologized!" Ranta bursted out suddenly, pointing an accusing finger at Merry. It seemed like he'd been containing it since earlier.

Merry raised a brow, lifting her head high making it look like she was looking down at a pest, "Yes I did, and so?"

"B-But you've never once apologized to me...! Damn it! I demand an apology for never apologizing to me!" Ranta almost pulled his hair out in frustration.

"That's because you don't deserve one, filth." Despite how it sounds, Naruto could see that this time, it was all in good nature. After all, there was a beautiful smile present on her face.

"Gah! I swear I'll get you to apologize to me. One day, you'll come and say _'Forgive me, Ranta-sama! I don't know why I never recognized you're greatness!'_ I swear to Lumiaris damn it! Mark my words."

Haruhiro winced a little at hearing Ranta butcher his imitation of Merry's voice. He wondered if he should tell Ranta to stop embarrassing himself… on second thought maybe not. It'll probably devolve into another argument.

With a chortle, Merry replied, "Keep dreaming."

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"...because it melted deep into the tissue, we'll have to keep confine you for at the very least three days… we'll also have to put you under for half the day to extract all the hardened metal shards inside you… do you have any questions?"

Ironically, Moguzo was placed under the care of the same priestess that healed Merry.

"M-My arms… will I be able to use them again?" Moguzo asked.

Magaleta contemplated for a bit, chewing at her lip before giving him a serious look, "...We're unsure. We don't often receive cases such as yours. The metal had dug in fairly deep inside so it's far too soon to tell, but your chances are good; and rest assured we'll try our best to make you fully capable as a soldier again… any other concerns?"

...

"If that'll be all." she gave a light bow, before leaving, door making a resounding click.

"So…" Moguzo started awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, though it was a bit of a struggle with his arms wrapped in a cask.

For a second, Naruto wondered if he was part Akimichi; He certainly had the disposition and the built to be one… maybe if he knew how to cook...

"It looks like I'll be staying here for a while, yeah? U-Uhm, so uh, don't let me hold you back. I'll join again in three days, like the doctor said."

No one replied.

There was a frown on everyone's face. It would seem that the idea of the true extent of Moguzo's injuries finally hit them. The realization that they could've lost another just as they had lost one not too long ago.

"G-Guys?" Moguzo asked hesitantly.

A sudden silence befell them, none of them really knowing what to say.

' _Manato would probably know what to say,'_ Haruhiro thought to himself, Manato was special like that. For some reason he'd make all the right decisions as a leader, at least that's what he assumed the general consensus was. He'd seemed to exude a natural leaderlike charm, something he didn't have. But still…

" _Haru-cough- you… take… care… lead… them"_

After contemplating for a bit, Haruhiro responded, addressing everyone, "Hey, I think we ought to take an impromptu break. What do you guys think?"

"Yume says aye!" Yume chirped, a smile replacing the gloomy look from earlier.

"Yeah." — "I'm not opposed to it." — "Meh, sure, all right"

"Hey l-look you really don't have to..." Moguzo stuttered, his cheeks flushing pink.

"Moguzo, I think I speak for everyone when I say we'd like to wait for you to recover, don't you think Manato would've said the same?" Haruhiro replied.

Moguzo stood speechless, looking down a bit, "I guess that's something he'd say, huh." Then he glanced up, sparing a glance at everyone in the room, "Are all of you fine with this though? It really isn't a bother for me if you guys don't wait."

"Of course we are Moguzo-kun!" Yume spoke up, "you know what they say right? Times like these are the building blocks for cowraddairy."

Haruhiro chuckled a bit, "She's right, though I think you meant to say camaraderie, Yume."

Yume placed a finger on her lip, pouting slightly, "Mou, I thought for sure I had that right."

"Uh-uhm… " They turned to Shihoru who fidgeted slightly from all the attention, "I think we should wait for Moguzo too..." she said softly.

Ranta raised his hands behind his shoulder, "Well, since everyone's aboard, I guess I could use a little bit of downtime." Then he suddenly pointed at everyone, "Make no mistakes however, it's not like I care about this whole spiel or anything, we dreadknights only care about ourselves and Lord Skullhell, this just so happens to benefit me too!"

"Ranta, you softie~" Yume pointed with a teasing grin.

"No I'm not!" — "Yes you are~" — "No, I'm not now stop pointing your finger at me, flatty!" — "Don't call them flat!"

"Uhm, I hope you guys don't mind? " Instead of listening to the argument between Yume and Ranta, Haruhiro opted to ask the trio their thoughts on the matter.

"Not at all." Hayashi shook his head, "I've been meaning to stock up on supplies and re-oil my gear. Plus he did save _lil' Merry_ here." He said ruffling her hair, much to her ire.

After sending Hayashi a harsh glare, Merry replied, "It would be most uncouth of me not to allow something so little after what he did."

' _Is she nervous or something?'_

For a second, Haruhiro swore he heard her voice tremble a bit as she spoke; and what's with the formality? He didn't dare voice that aloud though, instead opting to give her nod.

Then he turned toward his fellow thief, a stoic expression set on his features as usual, the blonde seemed to take a second to realize he was addressing him, and Naruto gave him a nod before replying, "I don't mind."

"You better recover fast Moguzo-kun… or else Ranta'll have to cook for us while you're gone." Yume said with her face scrunched in mild disgust.

"H-hey! Why you— "

Haruhiro winced, remembering the last time Ranta tried to cook… it wasn't a pretty sight. Even Shihoru couldn't suppress a shudder at the memory of that …inedible concoction.

"Haruhiro! Don't think I don't see that face you're making, if you've got something to say, go ahead and say it! ...Say it! Come on, say..." Ranta approached him and continued to blabber,

' _By Lumiaris, why'd he direct his attention to me?!'_ Haruhiro complained, since Ranta wouldn't stop pestering him, he was forced to reply back.

"Ranta, even you wouldn't eat it."

That seemed to have done the job.

After considering it, Ranta huffed, crossing his arms over his chest while muttering to himself, _"Tsch! Whatever, this is the kind of thanks I get for cooking breakfast."_

"Pfft!"

The soft chuckles of Moguzo caught their attention. the short exchange seemed to have erased his forlorn expression and left him in high spirits; It looked like his laughter was contagious as Yume laughed with him, followed by Hayashi, even Ranta gave a few chuckles of his own.

Soon after the room was filled with laughter, warmth filled each of their hearts as the light-hearted exchange erased the tense atmosphere. Eventually it died down, yet they continued to bask on the tranquil feeling of the aftermath.

"Moguzo-kun, get well soon okay?" Yume asked.

This time he gave a sincere smile, one filled with comfort knowing that this party, his friends, cared for him, "I'll do my best, Yume."

* * *

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* * *

The sun had already started to set by the time they left Moguzo alone to rest. Despite his condition, everyone seemed to have a pleasant time. Even Merry had been amiable, it must've surprised them, but it pleased him to know that her true feeling were beginning to surface.

He hated her mask, it made him feel restless.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Merry turn to him, probably about to ask him to hang out at Sherry's again.

"Naruto, M-Merry," Haruhiro began, his voice seemed to have surprised her, as she jumped a bit before shifting her gaze to him, "do you guys want to eat with us at Sherry's?"

Naruto didn't answer, this question was mostly directed to Merry after all. So, instead he turned to her as if to say 'it's your choice'

Unlike last time where she just utterly declined their invitation, she hesitated this time. It looked like she was about to say yes, but then…

"I respectfully decline."

"Why so formal?" Haruhiro almost bit his tongue at the sudden slip-up, preparing for the verbal lashment he'd surely accrued.

Though he was left baffled as instead of a tongue lashing, Merry only averted her eyes slightly, before replying.

"N-No reason at all."

"Okay then."

He was a bit disappointed, he had high hopes that she'd accept this time considering her amiable attitude toward them today. Yume seemed to have expected the same as him, you could almost feel her disappointment from the pout on her face. No matter, he'd rather not push their luck. There was always next time.

"I'll see y— " Merry barely caught herself mid-way, her eyes opened wide. She immediately turned around and walked briskly away from them.

Naruto gave a short bow, and followed after her.

"Tsch! Horrible woman really." Ranta sneered.

Haruhiro thought different, it sounded like she was about to say 'See you tomorrow'. Merry's slowly opening herself up to them. Quite frankly he thought that—

"Actually, Yume thinks Merry-chan was pretty cute today." Yume said, looking fondly at the form of the two slowly disappearing in the distance.

XXXX

The two of them walked in comfortable silence.

Despite her reaction from earlier, Merry wore a content smile. It was different from her usual, yet the same beauty was present.

Naruto closed his eyes, enjoying the ambient noises of Alterna. It's quite a peaceful night. From the soft currents of water in the aqueduct under them to the chirps of the crickets in the forest. Moments like this is one worth to remember.

But then he remembered, it's also moments like these that have made him lax and careless. Didn't they almost lose Moguzo today? Shouldn't he be training right now instead of spending time in pursuit of his own selfish desires? Didn't he tell her he wouldn't let anyone die?

Guilt slowly overtook him, the serene look in his face warping into—

"Naru,"

Merry looked at him with concern. It took her a second to read him and after contemplating; she shook her head giving him a smile.

"If you're blaming yourself for what happened, don't. No one could've predicted the true intent of that spell. So don't blame yourself." She clutched the hem of her skirt, looking down at her feet, "I know you'll do your best to keep your word, so worry not, my trust in you is full."

Was he really so easy to read? If he didn't know any better, he'd have thought that Merry could read minds. But then again, they've known each other for a while. He could read her the same way she does him.

Her words made his chest warm. It made him feel ...content. That's what he assumed it was anyway. But either way it removed the guilt he felt. He was afraid that Moguzo's near death experience would've made her doubt him, but she didn't, because she trusted him.

Trust, a treasure so greatly valued, yet so easy to shatter. He appreciated it. He appreciated her trust. So he'll do his best to keep it.

"Merry,"

He didn't need to say anything, he could see that she understood just from looking at him, and she gave him another smile, the one he'd only see her give him. The one that made her glow and amplified her features to the point that she looked like an ethereal beauty not of this world.

And then there, he promised himself, that no matter what. He'd fight to protect that smile.

"N-Naru," He saw her avert her gaze, her cheeks the color of a tomato, "you're staring again."

He blinked, indeed noticing that he was. Though instead of stopping immediately, he followed the urge to keep his eyes transfixed on her for just a little bit more. She didn't complain further so he figured it was okay for now.

Eventually, he stopped, he didn't know how long he stood captivated by her but it must've taken a while, since they were in front of Sherry's now. Merry wouldn't even look him in the eyes anymore. Oh, maybe he should apologize.

He cleared his throat and uttered,

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself, you're beautiful."

He didn't know her face could turn even more crimson than what it was.

For her part, Merry didn't understand why she was acting so… unlike herself. She'd heard countless of compliments from numerous guys before. She'd even had people she didn't know asking for her hand, but none of them have made her react like _this_.

"N-Naru, you shouldn't be saying things like that."

He gave her look of confusion, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"What do you mean…? Don't apologize or don't tell the truth?"

If it was any other guy, she'd have called them out on it, but she knew Naruto. He was just being honest and knowing that, she just couldn't help but…

"Naru..."

Naruto became even more confused seeing Merry cover her face with her hands. Maybe he should stop? It seems like he's saying all the wrong stuff today.

* * *

XXXX


	7. Chapter 7

**So, this chapter.**

 **I feel like it's another rushed one, though it's because I have another story idea that I just can't remove from my head. So, I figured I'd post this chapter first, so I could start with it.**

 **I'm pretty sure I will revise this though so keep your heads up for that.**

* * *

XXXX

* * *

His fingers thrummed on the hardwood table, eyeing the swirling contents of his drink. It was almost empty, if he recalled that'd make it his… fifth? Hmm, silence felt like a stranger to him these days. It's not often that he found himself alone at Sherry's anymore; at least, not if a certain blue-haired priestess had any say in it.

And though he appreciated Merry's company, there's just something about relaxing alone at Sherry's. It brought about a certain peace to him. It felt warm, like it was calling him to forget about his worries. The homey atmosphere was something he enjoyed.

…

But… could he really consider Sherry's… Alterna… Grimgar, his home? Ironic, for all the days of his life he'd been hard press to call anything home, but here in Grimgar, he felt… needed somehow.

Still...wasn't he merely a trespasser, someone that had been sent here all by mere chance? And what of his village... if they perchance happened to send a search party out and find him… shall he return then?

" _Naru…" Merry looked up to him with a small but radiant smile._

...would he return?

 _TIK-TOK_

He observed the clock hanging by the shelf where they kept the drinks.

It was pretty late. He'd been here for a while, he took notice that only a few patrons were left, besides him and the bartender, there were only about… maybe seven or eight people remaining.

The bartender, of course took advantage of the downtime and grabbed a nearby stool; reading through an unfurled copy of 'Alterna's Daily Times'.

' _Hmm?'_

Something peaked his attention. He squinted, taking a closer look at a certain section on the back of the article.

' _How… odd.'_

The bartender raised a brow at him, "Interested with this little tidbit of news, are ye' lad?" the man asked, setting the paper down on the counter, offering him a read. Naruto sent the man a short thanks, taking a look down.

 **Monster activity in Alterna an all-time high!**

 **Be wary all adventurers.**

 **Numerous sightings of Hobgoblins have been reported near the borders.**

" _Hogwash!_ Damuro must be runnin' out of room if these hobgoblins be runnin' around amok in these lands."

His accent reminded him of those foreign shinobi from that one unnamed continent. The ones who attempted to harness the power of those Gelel stones.

The man had a point though, for all the times he'd hunted goblins he had never seen a hobgoblin near Alterna's grounds. Most of them tend to stay deep in the heart of their fortified city. Their behavior is unusual, something must've attracted them here.

"So, where be that little lass yer always with, eh? Had a lover's quarrel?" The bartender gave him a cheeky grin, wagging his brows, "Ye know, if yer want to share some of yer love troubles here, I'm all ears."

The man must've been referring to Merry, they're regulars here after all… he seemed to be implying something, but Naruto couldn't understand. Maybe it's got something to do with that word again.

Love.

An intense feeling of deep affection. Such a simple concept… yet he still couldn't quite grasp it.

Some say it's what a husband feels for his wife. Some argue that it's what a friend feels for their friends. Now he learns that he needs to have an argument with someone he loves. So, which one is it…?

"Bartender-san, do you mind elaborating some more?"

The bartender scratched his head, a bit confused by the question. Regardless, he shrugged his shoulders and answered him, "Just let yer feelin's out lad. There's really nothin' more to it. I promise I won't say a word." He ended with a wink.

Naruto shook his head, "No I meant, how can you tell when you feel love for someone and why is it necessary to quarrel with them?"

"..."

"..."

"Bwahaha!" The bartender clutched at his sides, wiping a tear off one of his eyes, "Yer joking right? If you didn't want lil ol' me meddlin' with yer business alls you have to do is ask."

That only served to confused Naruto further. Had he misheard him? Naruto couldn't see anything funny with what he had said.

"...wait, by Lumiaris, yer serious arent'cha?."

At his nod, the bartender felt a giant urge to face palm. _'...is the lad an idiot? Gripes, I don't get' payed enough for this shite.'_

"E-Erhh.. a-ahem. Okay, well what would ye like to know?"

Naruto's eyes filled with intrigued, "Like I said, how could you tell when you love someone."

"W-Well, ye can't really put it into words." The bartender smacked his lips, trying to think of the best way to explain it, "Ye just either feel it, or ye don't. Usually if ye like spending time with the person, chances are yer in love."

Naruto frowned, that didn't really narrow it down for him, still that begs the question,

"That sounds… contradictory, why is it necessary to have an argument with them if you like them?"

The bartender blinked, looking at him confused, "What're you sayin' lad? I never said that."

"...you called it lover's quarrel."

"..."

"..."

' _By Lumiaris, the lad's hopeless… I pity the poor lass.'_

The bartender cleared his throat, a bit bewildered with the enigmatic blonde, "E-Erhm, ye don't have to necessarily argue with them. It just happens sometimes. If I were you I'd ask more from that little lass yer always with. I'm sure she'll appreciate it."

It was with relief for the bartender when Naruto gave a final nod, letting the bartender continue on with his work.

Naruto stroked his chin, mulling over his findings. From what he understood, if you like spending time with a person, there's a high chance you're in love with them. He does like spending time with Merry, does that mean he's in love with her?

Wait, but he also enjoys spending time with Barbara, maybe Kikkawa too, Haruhiro's party isn't unpleasant to be around with either. Does that mean he loves them too?

He scrunched his nose, this is all too confusing.

XXXX

The bell chimed signaling the entrance of a customer.

"Welcome to the forge! How can I help ya?"

Haruhiro took a second to take stock of the smithy. It was cramped, and cluttered. There were barrels everywhere with filled to the brim with all kinds of weapon. There was a distinct smell of melted steel. The smell itself didn't bother him, his sense of smell had already been numbed from the foul stench in their district. No, it was the sudden heat that bothered him.

The shop owner was drenched in sweat. Not surprising, considering that it felt like a furnace inside. He tugged at his scarf, loosening it a bit. Then, he hefted a huge burlap filled with Moguzo's broken gear onto the table.

"I need to get this repaired," He wiped a sheen of sweat forming on the back of his neck, airing himself out a bit with the flap of his scarf.

The smithy took a quick peek and took out Moguzo's shield to examine, "Jeez, how'd you break it this much? Did you fight a fire hound or somethin'?" he exclaimed, flipping the melted piece of steel around in his hands.

Haruhiro scratched the back of his head awkwardly, idly he wondered if the smith actually thought he could fit in Moguzo's bulky armor, "... y-yeah, it was a mage actually."

Though he kind of expected his reaction considering that the half of Moguzo's shield was missing.

"I hope you know this'll cost ya quite a bit."

He pursed his lips, taking and unfurling his coin bag from his pockets, "About how much are we talking about here?"

The smith stuck his tongue out the side of his upper lip, looking to be calculating the price in his head. With a shrug of his shoulders, he answered, "Eh, all of these... it'll cost ya maybe 'round," he made an iffy motion with his hand, "mmh...fifty to sixty silvers? Really depends on the material. Honestly, at this point I'd consider just scrapping the gear and buying a new one."

"F-Fifty?"

Haruhiro winced, he'd grossly underestimated the price to repair the gear. He knew it'll be expensive, but he didn't expect it to amount more than fifteen silvers. What a disappointment, even if everyone chipped in they'd be broke for a couple days… that'd mean they'd have to resort to hunting. He rubbed the bridge of his nose,

"This'll suffice, right?" Haruhiro jumped at the sudden voice, his head whipping about to see Naruto addressing the burly smith.

What the…

Haruhiro glanced at the entryway and saw that the door was fully closed.

Where did he… when did he... was he here the whole time?

"I'll also take another shipment of these." He said, dropping a stack of hunting knives in the table.

Haruhiro's eyes snapped open at the sight,

' _Th-that's...'_

That's probably the second time he'd ever seen a gold coin. The first time left a bad taste in his mouth, it was around the time when Manato died and for some reason, Renji took pity on them and offered them a gold coin. In hindsight, maybe he should've accepted it then, but then again, he felt like it was like he was spitting on Manato's grave if he did… even though Manato would probably call him an idiot and tell him to accept it if he was alive.

He didn't feel that desire here though. There was no pity in Naruto's eyes. Nor could he detect any ulterior motives, not that he thought he would considering what he'd seen from him so far.

Naruto at first glance looks intimidating, there was a certain aura to him that just made it difficult to stay in the same vicinity as him. The fact that he rarely showed emotions and always seemed to be on guard added in to that image. He could also awfully, almost painfully be blunt sometimes, but after having him as a party member for a while, he got used to it. Haruhiro could recognize now that it was just the blonde's way of saying things.

The shopkeeper examined the gold coin and stuck it in between his teeth. After taking notice of his purchase, he sent the blonde an exasperated look.

"Okay, lay it on me. How many did you break this time?"

"All of them."

Haruhiro winced at the loud smack that followed as the smithy palmed his face, dragging it down in frustration.

"Damn it, boy. You're making me look bad here! I lined those things up with extra reinforcements, how in Lumiaris do you keep breaking them?"

Naruto blinked, giving the man a shrug. He didn't really know what to say, the knives here were brittle compared to the ones in his world.

The smith sighed, before taking a notepad and scribbling something down, "How many did you say you wanted shipped again?"

"About another dozen."

"Okay, I assume you want it delivered per usual?"

"If possible."

The smith gave a loud cough to clear his throat, there was a distinct sound of flem which grossed Haruhiro a bit.

"I'll probably have it done tomorrow, expect the package by noon." Then he turned to Haruhiro, his writing tool still in hand, "and you, will you be retrieving your items by pick up or by delivery?"

"Uh, I think pick up is fine."

Haruhiro didn't know if he had to pay extra for delivery and he didn't really want to bother Naruto more with the expenses if there was.

The smith nodded and jotted down something on the pad before flipping it close. "Yours will probably take a little bit longer, but expect it to take no more than two days. I'll send a courier your way when it's done. Now, is there anything else I can do for you lot?"

Haruhiro shook his head, making the smith nod,

"I'll be right back with a few papers you need to fill up. As for you blondie, your good to go."

With that the smith hefted the bag filled with Moguzo's gears, bringing it to the doorway which probably led to the actual forging ground.

This left him alone with the stoic blonde, who lingered a few moments more before heading toward the exit.

"Uhm, a moment… Naruto… -san?"

It just became painfully apparent to Haruhiro that he'd never interacted much with the blonde, he couldn't even remember if he addressed him with honorifics. Not that he deliberately tried to avoid him, it was just… difficult? He guessed that was the best way to describe it. It was difficult to conversate with him especially with his normally silent persona.

Naruto spared a glance back over his shoulder, looking at him in question.

"I just want to say thanks, you know for paying… I'll talk to the group later to see if we can find a way to pay you back."

Realization dawned on Naruto and he half-turned his body to him,

"Oh. I see." He shook his head, "There's no need. Your friend potentially saved Merry from harm. It is only fitting that I atleast cover the expenses for his deed."

For a second, Haruhiro wondered if it was just them struggling to make ends meet. Afterall, everyone he'd met never seemed to have any financial issues. Renji's group for one looked like they were already equipped with high-grade equipment, heck, even Kikkawa seemed to be doing well for himself.

"Is that all?"

Haruhiro shook his head, shifting focus back to him, "I'm sorry what?"

Naruto cocked his head, "Did you need me for anything else."

"Oh…" Haruhiro scratched his head sheepishly, "Yeah, that was all. Sorry about that."

Naruto nodded and angled his head for a bow.

Then with a click of the door, he was out and Haruhiro was left to his own musings.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

They came in the middle of the night.

The loud billowing of a horn resounded throughout the city. Naruto's eyes snapped open and immediately scanned his surroundings. Years of training had instilled in him the mentality to become fully alert at any sign of danger.

This was no different. It hadn't been used in a long time but every volunteer soldiers knew that sound. Afterall, they were all taught to familiarize themselves with this signal before their induction.

It was a distress call. A call to arms — for the first time in a long while, Alterna's under siege.

He grabbed the tanto hanging by the sheath on his coat rack. He didn't even bother to dress up anymore. Time is of an essence.

From the shouts and commotions of the townspeople outside, he could already tell that it had already started. His eyes sharpened like chipped ice, the cold persona he wore as ROOT's captain resurfaced.

He didn't bother with the door, he went straight out the windowsill, jumping from roof to roof.

The streets were a mess, probably from a stampede of fleeing townspeople. Bodies laid amuck, some groaned, and others remained still. He'd stop to help them but there were more pressing matters he needed to attend to. Namely, routing back the invaders.

It wasn't long before he found them, three of them at least.

He scrunched his nose as he took a closer look.

If he thought the goblins are hideous... these ones are... grotesque, looking like a crime of nature, they were probably the most disgusting creatures he'd ever laid eyes on.

They amounted to what a pig would look like if it were ever to turn into a bipedal, sentient race. But that wasn't what disgusted him the most, it wasn't even the fact that their green, wrinkled, wart filled body was exposed in all of its unsightly glory.

No, it was the horrible stench of excrement, puss and urine they excreted that burned his olfactory.

Currently the three were attempting to ram through the barred doors of a house. There were a couple screams from inside as the wood creaked, beginning to give way.

So, with his blade at the ready, he took a great lunge, the wind whipping past him as he descended. At the apex of his descent, he channeled all the momentum to the tip of his blade.

One of the creatures turned its head to look just in time to be skewered through the head. He quickly wrenched the blade free and impaled its two shocked companions, straight through the door frame.

Then with both hands, he pulled the blade free making the two corpses crumple to the ground, twitching. He flicked his blade free clean of the creatures' blood, taking quick notice that rather than the crimson he was expecting, the creatures bled a deep blue.

Suddenly, he felt the presence of others nearby.

"-huff- R-Renji, s-slow down a bit!"

It was a thief, a female one, dressed in a scandalously daring outfit, exposing more than a few bits of skin.

"Quit whining, if you want to lag behind go ahead! There'll be nothing left if we slow down any further!" The one he assumed to be Renji responded. In contrast to the thief, this one was donned in full crimson plate armor with a greatsword strapped to his back. From the way he was dressed, Naruto assumed him he was a warrior.

There were three others with them, a bald burly man with a build akin to that of a brawler, a tall mage with glasses with a staff in his clutches and a priestess, a really small priestess, looking like she could barely reach four and a half feet in height.

They didn't seem to notice his presence, perhaps due to the urgency of the situation. But still he knew that these weren't regular volunteer soldiers. From the way they're geared he could tell that they're a cut above the rest... at least compared to the ones here in Alterna.

So, if they were correct that'd mean that the brunt of the force is in the front gate… that narrowed things down for him. Without further ado, he broke into a sprint, following after them. With his superior speed, it didn't take him long to catch up to the group.

The thief lady seemed to have noticed him, sparing a quick glance and promptly fell flat on her face.

She yelled something he couldn't quite pick up, whether it be for him or for her group he couldn't tell, but they all left her to the dust either way. In this case it was understandable, after all, the mission is to eliminate the threats to the village as quickly as possible.

Eventually, he caught sight of the twin watchtowers that guarded the front gate. The sound of steel hitting steel, and yells of monsters and adventurers alike reverberating throughout the battleground.

The walls had already been breached, numerous pig-like creatures trickling in as the adventurers fought desperately to defend their home. There was no glory, no organization. It was just pure and utter chaos. Arrows and spells alike flew in the air, corpses of the creatures and adventurers littered the field.

Just as he was about to jump in, a sharp pain stopped him in his tracks, making him fall to his knees.

 _Elemental jutsus were thrown about, some hitting friends and foes alike._

 _The body count continued to pile up, the river in which they fought had already turned red with blood. Various headbands floated about, Konoha, Iwa, Kumo, Suna…_

 _It didn't matter anymore, the only thing that mattered was survival._

 _Those were his thoughts as he dug his kunai deep into the heart of another shinobi._

 _CLANG_

He snapped back into focus seeing a sword block a strike that would've bludgeoned his face in.

"Oi, blondie!" It was the warrior from before, Renji if he recalled. The man struggled, pushing hard against its attacker, "If you're not going to h-help… then— " he broke past its guard with a kick, making it fall to the ground, and dismembered its head with a swift strike, "do us a favor and get the hell out of here!"

Naruto shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He stifled the dull ache in his head and gave an apologetic nod at the white-haired warrior.

"My apologies."

Suddenly, the sound of a loud war-horn reverberated throughout the battlefield and he saw the main group retreating en masse.

"Fall back! Everyone fall back!" — "There's too many of them!" — "No, stop! Damn it, fight! You cowards! Stay and fight!"

A large wave cluttered in through the breached gates. A few foolish adventurers attempted to stand their ground and were quickly cut down by the huge force.

One poor adventurer was thrown haplassly into the midst of them, and the creatures immediately swarmed him. They tugged and pulled at his limbs, some gnawed straight through his armor, piercing straight through his flash.

"He-Help! Pl-Please! Someone! I don't want to—- I don't— _gahck!_ "

"...by Lumiaris, they're _eating_ him!" someone uttered in horror.

Around him he saw the same thing happening to the adventurers they've captured. Their dying screams resonated throughout the area.

Fear had already crept into the hearts of the volunteer soldiers. The sight of their comrades being eaten alive had destroyed their morale completely. They wouldn't be much help at this point.

He narrowed his eyes at one of the creatures. Man-eaters. These things, whatever they are, they're an abomination of nature. Something that must be eliminated at all cost. Something that shouldn't be allowed to a firm grip of his tanto, he quickly dashed toward the group, weaving through the mass of retreating adventurers.

"Oi, what are you doing?!" — "You can't fight them alone!" — "That's suicide!"

Using the momentum from his speed, he launched himself to the nearest enemy, and quickly bifurcated it in half. Feeling a swing come from his left, he duck and retaliated by chopping the offending hand off.

An animal-like grunt came from behind, and he immediately reacted with a stab. The gurgling wheeze that followed signalled the death of yet another of the hogs.

Like a raging storm, he swept through them. It didn't matter how many there were, he weaved through their blows fluidly and delivered a counter that either outright killed or incapacitated. Blood flowed through the streets like a river, their numbers may be numerous but to him, it was all the same.

Such was their misfortune for fighting a shinobi. A race bred for battle, a race that only knew war. It didn't help that out of all the shinobi arts, the art of mass combat had always been the one he excelled at.

As the battle raged, he noticed that the creatures had began to become cautious of approaching him. Instead of swarming him like before, they'd started using actual tactics. Their archers stayed behind, raining arrows down on him whenever there's a lull from the coordinated attacks of their frontline attackers.

But he had to remain vigilant. If they were to get pass, the fight would have to take place in the central square. That would mean the deaths of countless inhabitants in the village.

' _Turning your back on your village is as bad as abandoning a child.'_

Those were the fourth's words.

He'd never truly understood it back then, but now...

Despite his fatigue, he felt the corners of his mouth twitch to a smile.

Perhaps he really did see Alterna as his home.

"On your left!" He heard someone shout. Heeding the warning, he maneuvered to his right just as the warrior from before skewered one of the man-eaters.

Renji for his part couldn't quite make sense of the situation. It was bizarre, earlier he had assumed the blonde to be a wet behind the ears rookie, after all he looked like he was seconds away from passing out. But the way he fought, the way he moved. It could only be achieved by a seasoned veteran.

As he spared a glance back at the blonde, he noticed that another three had been cut down already.

' _What the actual…'_

Bit by bit, the morale of the adventures increased as the creatures were slowly driven back.

Soon, a trail of corpse were lying down a path they've carved toward the gate. Naruto heard the yells of his fellow adventurers resound as they rallied behind him, but as they reached the breach, the ground shook and the gate collapsed.

When the dust cleared, they realized exactly why.

Naruto's jaw locked, as he beheld the creature before him.

It stood maybe about ten feet tall and was twice as wide as the creatures. It was also fully armored, covered in leather pelts and a giant sword strapped to its back.

Renji stood wide-eyed, staring in shock at the beast. He'd heard about it from the bards around the tavern, but he had merely dismissed it as a myth, but here before him, it stood. Alive, real, and very well ready to kill them.

"...O-Orc… Lord"

* * *

XXXX

* * *

[Holy Light]

The cross-shaped light connected with the creature, a guttural cry escaping it as it was burned alive by her magic.

Orcs. Merry couldn't understand it. Why were orcs attacking Alterna of all places?

There are countless villages closer to the Thousand Valley, yet they chose to attack Alterna. It didn't make sense.

She blocked a strike from an orc, allowing herself to feel the pull of her skill.

[Counter Strike] enables a priest to absorb the force and momentum of an attack; then they can follow up with a strike amplified by the same force.

So, it wasn't a surprise for her to see its skull cave in after she struck its head.

Currently, she was on her way to the main gate, some orcs had already made their way in. That could only mean that the gate had already been breached.

Her lips settled into a grim frown, that was too fast, way too fast than normal. With the guards and patrols and all, the gates should have at least held strong for half the day.

Something was off.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

 **Also keep your eyes peeled for my new fic. It'll be a Naruto/Fate crossover set on Britannia.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Trying to get back into the swing of things. I feel a bit rusty. There's probably a few grammar mistakes here and there too, but I figured I'd post it first and just iterate the grammar fixes later. On a side note, I'll be super busy starting August as I'll have full-time work by then, so the updates will come a bit slower.**

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"...O-Orc… Lord." Renji stiffened, his posture rigid.

So these are orcs, and this one… could it be a Monster-Rex?

It had yet to move but its presence alone was enough to render everyone around him frozen.

"O-Orc Lord." A soldier took a step back, shaking in disbelief, "H-Hey… Wha-What the hell..."

Naruto frowned, looking around. Whatever morale boost he'd brought had plummeted down instantly. But he couldn't blame them, its monstrous presence could be felt all around. The Goblin Mutilator he had killed a few months ago didn't even hold a candle to it.

If this truly is a Monster-Rex then perhaps Merry was correct. It wasn't something he could face alone. A beast that defeated even a veteran party of twenty, and the only ones here are...

His eyes narrowed.

They're all rookies. Most of the veterans like Barbara were out handling an order of extermination on the eastern border after all.

It's quite the predicament.

"Tschk!"

Naruto looked beside him to see Renji shakily forcing himself up, wiping a bit of blood off his lips.

Atleast, it seems like there are still those who are willing to fight — He'll make do.

" **GRaaHRk!"**

Following the roar, Naruto spun around and took a quick swipe, decapitating the reckless orc, but immediately another one followed, sending a side-swing his way.

 _CLANG._

Naruto grunted skidding from the force of the blow as he fought to maintain balance on the slippery floor. He heard a piggish squeal, followed by the attacker hitting the hard pavement.

He shook his numbing arm. It was the first time he'd met one of its strikes head on. It didn't help that the floor had been drenched in liquid from a leaking water tank. It made it difficult to fight but — he glanced at his stumbling adversary — it's worse for them.

With a quick fling of his knife, it fell flat on its back with a hole in its head. Again, another orc appeared, replacing its fallen comrade. He wasted no time.

 _SLASH_

And another.

 _SLASH_

And another.

He fell into a mantra, splotches of warm, pungent blood, struck against him as he weaved through opponent after opponent. But, everytime he cut down one two or three more would replace it.

It's unending, there's too many of them.

Naruto took a deep heave, crinkling his nose as blood, piss and feces mingled together to form a horrible stench.

Ducking from a stab, he flung water on the eyes of his attacker and swept its legs making it fall down with a splash, immediately he followed up with a quick thrust that skewered its head in.

Naruto surveyed the field, taking a second to right himself. Observing the mass of orcs beating down on the dwindling forces of volunteer soldiers.

He wasn't tired, not yet, but at this rate… wait. His eyes fell upon the liquid dripping out of his hand, slowly realization came upon him.

This was...

* * *

XXXX

* * *

"Choke on it you piece of hog shit!" Renji yelled, ripping his sword off a gurgling orc. He heaved once, twice before righting himself.

A soft thump behind signaled someone's arrival.

"Renji, right?" Naruto started, his back toward him, with his tanto drawn out in a guarded position. "That's your name, correct?"

Renji grunted, cracking his neck, his face matted with sweat. He took a breather, leaning the dull edge of his blade up to his shoulder, and notched his head back.

"Y-Yeah." the warrior heaved out as he bashed an unfortunate orc's face in with his pommel, "Don't think now's the best time for introductions blondie."

"I need you to gather those who are still willing to fight, I have a plan."

Renji eyed him, a dubious look in his face, "What kind of plan?" — He couldn't place a finger on it but something was off with the blonde's look.

The blonde didn't answer, rather Renji caught a suspiciously round and heavy object. Renji threw another confused glance at him.

"A decisive one," Naruto retrieved his ninja wires from his pouch, forming a knot on both ends of his kunai and his tanto while surveying the vast field, eyes landing on the humongous form of the Orc Lord, "I'll give you the signal… you'll know what to do."

Before Renji could even protest, Naruto surged forward, meeting the ferocious swarm of orc grunts head-on.

' _Twenty-five meters...'_

His head throbbed, copious amounts of liquid adrenaline being pumped into his bloodstream as his eyes sharpened into focus. His breathing matched the rapid pace of his steps, not a single ounce of energy was wasted. He'll need it if he was to survive this.

' _...ten meters...'_

For just a moment... for some reason, a certain blue-haired priestess flashed into his thoughts.

' _...five meters...'_

" _Naru..."_

His eyes hardened with resolve, opening his pouch.

' _One...'_

He'll survive this — no matter what.

At the lead orc's roar, Naruto sprung into action, throwing his last canister of smoke bomb right at the orc's head, and skidding between its legs, making sure to quickly clip its heels as he passed it.

It took awhile for the orcs to register what happened, before their comrade tumbled to the ground, squealing and screaming. It was only a slight moment of confusion, but that's all the time he needed as the area was blanketed in a thick smoky fog.

Naruto didn't waste any time and surged forward, being mindful of the slippery ground as his blades swung wildly, taking full-advantage of the cover the smokescreen provided. Heading straight for the general vicinity he'd last seen the Orc Lord.

Shouts, grunts, and squeals sounded around him as the orcs panicked; pushing at each other in an attempt to escape the fog, while some of the reckless ones swung and hit their comrades trying to land a lucky blow against him.

He didn't stop, not for a second, objective in mind.

In his line of work, very seldom does a plan come off without a hitch, which is why Danzo instilled in him to make backup plans for his plans, and backup plans for his backup plans.

"— _However, if you find your plans working in full succession, do not take the time to consider it. Instead…"_

"Take the opportunity to milk every single ounce of it." Naruto finished softly.

...and that he shall.

* * *

XXXX

* * *

[Cure]

Merry wiped the sweat at the crease of her brow, letting out an exhale of breath as she turned to the worried gaze of the rookie soldier grasping the hand of his injured comrade.

Giving him a firm nod, Merry assured him, "She's stable for now, but bring her to the apothecary, I wouldn't put it past these orcs to poison their blades."

With a look of gratitude, the leader and his party gave her a quick bow, before the leader took his comrade on his arms and hurriedly left.

Merry took the time to get another breather, before slowly moving up to stand.

That's the tenth one now. Priests were often the ones most boggled in sieges, being the least frequent but most in demand class; and though she was often cold, she wasn't heartless. She'd never turn down someone in dire need of healing, even if she herself is running low on reserves.

A grim look came over her. Her Lips settling down to a thin line, as a particular memory flashes before her eyes.

' _In fact… that was the reason…'_

A loud shout broke her train of thoughts.

Merry scrunched her eyes, slowly heading toward the source of the commotion. Two parties, from the looks of it.

The source, an imposing silver-haired warrior dressed in a rather striking set of crimson steel armor who'd shoved another warrior in the standard warrior gear — a rookie from the looks of it.

"...call yourselves volunteer soldiers?! Spineless cowards, all of you!" said the silver-haired warrior.

"Look, we don't want any trouble we just— " The rookie warrior's mage attempted to justify.

"Men are dying out there! Your fellow soldiers... just think for a second! If you don't fight now, Alterna will fall. There's no alternative, now's the time to make a stand!" The man yelled.

Merry scooted herself in the forming crowd, watching as the warrior berated the rookies, while his own party — consisting of a mage, rogue, paladin and a priestess; dressed in their own impressive set of gear, silently observed from behind him.

"I'm talking to all of you!" He turned to address the whole crowd, his arms splayed out. "Listen, the Frontier Army is not going to come, there's no help! It's just us, this is all on us! If you refuse to fight now, Alterna along with your friends and family will be slaughtered!" The warrior heaved with deep breaths.

Yet none replied, all was silent, the tension in the air palpable to touch.

Merry observed this all with a silent stare.

The unfortunate truth is, rookie volunteer soldiers who've come this far in Alterna often had the same trait, they were _cautious_ , some might argue even _cowards_ ; but it is true nonetheless. Brave and foolhardy parties most often than not, died early on in their career and the few which exceled moved on to better ventures… her former group was no exception to that rule.

From a quick glance, considering the gear of everyone around here, it wasn't hard to guess they're all rookies.

Merry shook her head and held back a snort. It's no use trying to convince them.

Just their luck for there to be an order on the day of the siege. This should've been more manageable had Soma's Daybreakers or even Shinohara's Orion been here.

"So that's it, huh? None of you are willing? None of you will fight?" The warrior shook his head, giving them all a disgusted glare.

"Fine." He turned around, heaving his blade up to his shoulders his party following him. "If we survive this, _when_ we survive this, I'll consider turning in my badges." He turned to give them all a sharp look "You'll all amount to nothing anyway." He finished, lodging a glob of spit on the ground.

There was a bit of murmuring as the crowd dispersed. Merry looked around, wondering if she'd see Haruhiro's party here somewhere.

' _But knowing them, they're probably near the apothecary making sure no one gets to Moguzo.'_

That brought a small smile to her at least. Though she wouldn't admit it, the party's bonds were indeed strong, it was really what made it so hard to be amiable with them to begin with. It was all so much like her former party, it hurt.

" _I won't let them die."_

But… perhaps this time, with him… she could…

Merry suddenly stumbled,, as a resounding boom came from the main battleground. Tremors displaced the solid pavement, the ground shaking. Merry gritted her teeth, fighting hard to maintain her balance.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity it stopped, though the ringing in her ears didn't. As her vision cleared and the dust settled, she found everyone on the ground, some unconscious but mostly unharmed. Thankfully, they're at the part of town where all the structures were built mostly in wood, and there weren't too many debris to worry about.

Merry slowly stood up and turned to face the source, scrunching her eyes a bit as dust particles cleared around the area of the impact zone.

The massive Orc Lord had slammed a fist unto the ground, gorging the once flat landscape into a deep crater. Safe to say, the group who's on the receiving end of that was —

Her eyes widened

' _W-Wait t-that's...!'_

"N-Naru?" Merry whispered to herself in disbelief. But it was unmistakable, there were only a few blondes in Alterna, even fewer are the _absolute_ _ **lunatics**_ _dumb_ enough to sprint over the Orc Lord's arm!

"Hey, Sassa hurry up! That numbskull's going to get himself killed..." The crimson warrior ordered the voluptuous rogue, hefting his blade.

"C-Coming...!" As the rogue, Sassa, caught up; she chuckled in nervousness. "S-Say, Renji… Uh, what's our plan here again?"

If Renji heard her, he didn't acknowledge her.

"I'll come…" Renji's group turned at the sound of Merry's voice. Renji himself, stopping a bit to glance back with a raised brow.

"That… _numbskull_ ," Merry rubbed the aching side of her head as she continued, "is a part of my party. So, I'll help."

Renji snorted, before smirking a bit and turning around. "Well, I hope you fight as good as you look, princess. Looks like we have a bit of an entourage waiting for us." he said, eyeing the approaching swarm of orcs.

Merry scowled, walking toward them, "I hope you fight better than how you look, I'd rather not waste my reserves on the elderly."

Renji's brow twitched before he started chuckling, blade drawn out in-front of him as the party assembled into formation, "Those are some fighting words, princess. I think I'm beginning to like you."

"Can't say the feelings mutual." Merry uttered as she finished her spell, "O light, return to Lumiaris' divine protection… [Blessing]!"

"Chibi," Renji nodded at his party's priestess.

"Hai," the priestess replied, like her namesake, she's quite short. Merry doubted she'd even reach past her chest. "O light, return to Lumiaris' divine protection… [Protection]!"

A warm sensation filled Merry originating from a glowing white symbol that appeared on her wrist.

Compared to Blessing, Light of Protection was a more defensive buff that increased the reflex, resistance and natural healing of the party; and unlike Blessing, the spell has a max limit of six party members. But the spell is a lot less taxing for the priest.

"Ron, you're up." said Renji.

The paladin nodded with a grin, as he started to repeatedly smack his pommel unto his shield, whilst moving forward, attracting the attention of the orcs.

"Alright. Come and get it, you filthy animals." Ron taunted.

Merry didn't know if the orcs understood his jeers, but it seemed to have the effect he wanted as the beasts started converging on his location.

"Jeeru mea gram fel kanon!" the mage wasted no time and started his incantation. From the chant alone, Merry could already guess that it was an ice spell. She'd know, Mutsumi favored them along with fire spells after all.

And as if proving her right, the air condensed around them. The moisture around converging into a single point forming a ball of ice which immediately launched itself into the swarm.

The effects were devastating.

Those at the epicenter of the collision were lucky as they're flash frozen instantly, those on the outside though…

CRACK

" **GraAAHHHk!"**

Merry glanced briefly as an orc clutched at its profusely bleeding stump, the rest of its remaining leg still frozen in place.

Rookies would have been more empathetic to these things, but experience had taught her to quickly ignore any feelings of pity for these creatures. They wouldn't bat an eyelash had it been on the reverse.

Besides…

A tremor shook the ground once again and she turned a sharp eye toward the general vicinity of the Orc Lord, trying to find her blonde companion; but it was hard to see with all the dust clouds blanketing the field.

Eitherway, she couldn't afford to waste anymore time.

' _Naru...'_ Merry gritted her teeth.

Putting forth a palm out in front of her she chanted, "O light, under the divine grace of Lord Luminous… [HOLY LIGHT]"

Light formed on the palm of her hand, small at first, but gradually growing in size. Soon it had taken the form of a giant cross, radiating a light so bright that for a moment, the whole field was illuminated, and everything was made visible.

Then it launched, tearing through the ground, sending dirt and rubble flying everywhere as it consumed the swarm.

Their cries sounded almost like that of a dying animal

By the time it was over, a line had been cut straight through the center of the orc army. The smell of burnt flesh mingling in with the smell of war.

Merry took a deep breathe. Her outstretched palm trembling a bit. She'd poured out a generous amount of her reserves unto the spell, more than what was needed and the sharp tingles on her arms were testament to how close she was on running empty.

A low whistle came out of Sasha, admiring her handy work, while Renji snortled once again.

"Hah! Look like someone's eager... very well then," a mad grin stretched Renji's lips, "we'll cut a line straight through the middle."

And just like that, Renji charged into the mass. His party only took a second to respond before following their leader. Normally she'd protest, but she didn't know how long Naruto would last against a Monster Rex, strong as he was, _no one_ can match a Monster Rex.

Renji was mindful enough to make sure the group had a semi-decent formation. She couldn't see much of what was going on upfront but from the number of orcs that were left in an incapable state on the side as she passed by, she could tell that Renji's quite formidable. They have that going at least.

Still, this was insane. It went against everything she'd known as a volunteer soldier. It was idiotic and reckless — Lumiaris, it was suicide!

Merry gritted her teeth, ducking from a swing that would've swiped her head clean and quickly returning with a back strike of her own that caved the orc's head in.

She'd long forgone her priest staff for her mace. Most priests didn't ever bother learning to wield a mace as it signified their willingness to fight in the frontline. She'd only done it to ease the burden on her party back then… but it was a mistake she'd refused to make again. She hadn't wielded it for years ever since the incident.

But here she was doing the same ludicrous, insane...

Lumiaris! Her emotions, her thoughts, everything was a mess! All because her blonde numbskull of a party member had no sense of self-preservation!

Hadn't she warned him _not_ to engage a Monster Rex by himself? Why couldn't he—

A sharp whizzing in the air broke her tirade.

"Volley! Take co—"

"[Pneuma]"

Before Ron could even warn the group, she'd already precasted the defensive barrier, the bluish cloud consuming every arrow that was launched at them.

"Well done, princess!" Renji praised, "Adachi!"

"I'm on it. Jeeru mea gram tera kanon! [Ice Comet]"

Like before, a ball of frozen ice formed from thin air and collided with the group of orc archers.

' _That was…!'_ Merry brows rose slightly, sending a curious glance at the back of the mage, _'...this group.'_

The mage was able to cast whilst running, something that's usually only seen in more seasoned veteran parties. She couldn't speak much yet for the thief, but it seemed like this group had some outstanding talents.

She wouldn't look past a gift on a horse's mouth but she couldn't help but wonder what a veteran party like this was doing here.

"Push!" Renji suddenly shouted up front.

Merry's eyes narrowed. The orcs have regained their composure, a line of grunts have formed ahead of them. Renji and Ron were pushing against them using their respective weapons, Renji with the flat side of his blade and Ron with his kite shield.

"Push us!" Renji yelled through gritted teeth.

Chibi, who was ahead of her ran even faster and tackled Ron from behind adding force to their pushing power.

' _I see…'_ Merry braced herself, using the momentum from her own sprint to push against Renji. Not long after, she felt a force behind her as Sassa came in to help.

That did it. Renji roared something upfront before the orcs' resistance faltered. Their assailants let out a cry as they barrelled through them.

 _THWACK. THWACK. THWACK_

Not once was there a pause to the sound of steel cutting through flesh as Renji and Ron relentlessly hacked their way through to the Orc Lord.

"Where the hell do these orcs keep coming from, they're like ants!" Ron blocked a strike with his shield and retaliated by bludgeoning the orc's head with the tip of his shield.

"Just keep going! We're almost there!" Renji on the other hand fluidly weaved through their strikes and struck with his own, the way he moved as he spun around with his blade extended out cleaving an orc or two looked more like a dance than anything else.

' _Just a bit more.'_ Merry could already see the devastated field where Naruto and the Orc Lord were fighting. Craters lined the wet ground, orc corpses strewn about — some missing a limb or two.

At the very center, from where the Orc Lord was, she could see that the horde had clumped together. She couldn't find Naruto, but the fact that the Orc Lord was still swinging its fists around told her that he's still out there fighting.

Alone.

' _Where are you… Naruto?'_

* * *

XXXX

* * *

The ground shook as he dodged yet another strike from the Orc Lord. A huge gust of wind blew from the point of impact and Naruto was forced to close his eyes, preventing a wave of dirt from entering in his eyes. Immediately after landing on the ground, he raised his blade in a guarded position, just in time to block an axe from taking his head off.

Naruto retaliated quickly, swiping the extended arm off. It took the orc a moment to realize it had lost an arm but by then a kunai had been lodged on its throat.

He breathed hard, his breathing coming out ragged. His movements were starting to get sluggish. He was nearing the end of his limit.

Taking a quick scan of his surroundings, he assessed the enemies around him. He'd lured a great majority of the horde. Their numbers, too many to count.

Good. That means there's just a few more things left for him to do.

The Orc Lord had a few loops of ninja wire tied on its neck from his earlier skirmish, so this made it a bit easier. Naruto's eyes narrowed as the Orc Lord prepared to smash him, at the same time he a warcry from behind him and Naruto leapt up in a backflip, dodging the orc's tackle and landing on its shoulders. He used it as a springboard to leap to the Orc Lord, just as its fists came crashing down on its subordinate.

The force of the blow pushed him up making him ascend even faster.

Just as Naruto reached the peak of his jump, he felt a warm presence at his core, spreading out and gradually easing his fatigue off. The corners of his lips twitched into a slight smile.

' _Perfect timing, Merry.'_

"[Blessing]"

He spared a quick glance at her direction, their eyes meeting for just for a moment. Her worried gaze with his assuring one.

' _I won't die,'_ was his silent reply.

Renji and the group he'd gathered were fighting against a considerable amount of enemies, but from a glance he could tell that they're still winning. That means he could focus on the matter at hand.

A gust of wind blew from his side and he quickly tugged at the wire binding the Orc Lord just in time to dodge a swift smack from the Monster Rex. He descended toward it at an alarming rate, his blade extended ahead in front of him.

 _SHLUK!_

" **GrAAAAAAAAH!** "

Naruto held on to his tanto for dear life from the bellowing voice of the Orc Lord. The blade had sunken in deep into its eyeball. Feeling movement from behind, he quickly pulled the blade free and leapt toward the nape of its neck just as its hands came up to cup its bleeding eye.

Now's his chance.

Naruto didn't waste any time and swiftly jumped off the Orc Lord's back, looping the ninja rope to the structure behind it.

"Oi blondie, time to move!" Renji yelled.

' _Not yet.'_

Naruto ignored him, continuing to weave around, skillfully evading the Orc Lord's frantic swipes as layers upon layers of ninja wire coiled around the Monster Rex and the structure behind it.

This drive… this feeling.

Feeling the wind shift about, he jumped, just in time to land on top of the Orc Lord's knuckles. Without stopping he blitzed forward, running through the length of its arm.

"What're you doing?! Get outta there, you idiot!"

"Naru! Move!"

The odds weren't in their favor. They're outnumbered, possibly even outmatched but…

Taking a sharp intake of breath, he pushed himself; going even faster, his eyes becoming sharper, thoughts whirling into hyperfocus — Everything was clear, he could see the slight stiffening of the Orc Lord's muscle, the sweat dripping out of every pore of its body, even the short hiccup in its breathing as an ear-shattering bellow escaped its lips.

Compared to the skirmishes he led, the thousands of suicide missions Danzo had sent him and his team on, it wasn't any different.

He skidded beneath the Orc Lord's swipe, swiping at its open palms as he want past it, closing his eyes as a splash of vile, pungent blood splashed on his face.

Finally reaching the top of its shoulder-blades, he channeled strength to his legs and leapt past it.

Naruto soared through the air, eyes focused on the giant container behind it. A container that was leaking something unmistakably familiar. As he reached it, he swung with the last of his remaining strength.

Had it been anyone else, maybe whatever these orcs had planned would've worked, maybe they would've had a chance — but he wasn't a regular soldier, nor was he a regular shinobi. He wasn't a hero, nor a knight, nor a samurai. No. he was a warrior bred without honor. The roots that grew in the dark, enabling the leaves to thrive in the sun.

Naruto heard a warning shout from Merry before a sudden pain erupted from his sides, the wind whipping past him as he was catapulted to the side. Naruto grunted as he was reacquainted with the ground again, and again, and again.

By the time it was over, he couldn't tell how long he was airborne or which bones had broken, only that an unbearable amount of pain wracked his body. Faintly, he felt a soothing pure essence at his chest, slowly his conscious started to come back.

"—old on! Just hold on Naru!" It was Merry, she'd moved toward him the moment he was punted. There's obvious trepidation in her voice as she pumped as much healing energy into him.

He couldn't blame her, his body was in so much pain, he didn't know what hurt most anymore. But he needed to know, he couldn't stop. Not now.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto forced himself through the mind-shattering pain and opened his eyes up to look at the result of his work.

" _Boy, in war there's a single unspoken rule."_

A torrent of black liquid had emerged from the container, drenching the Orc Lord along with its minions.

Initially, because it was dark, he'd mistaken it for a water tank.

" _Cheat. Never give your opponent a fair chance. If you find yourself in a fair fight, you're doing something wrong! We are ROOT. Our victory is our honor. Do you understand?"_

But the growing scent in the air as the liquid continued to cover the field confirmed it. It wasn't water... it was oil. And when he'd figured that out, he'd given Renji the exact tool that'll end up being the deciding factor in this battle.

A familiar round object soared through the air, right in between the Orc Lord and the oil tank. It was an object he'd bought on a whim a few days ago from the smithy. It's a prototype, a replacement for the explosive tags he couldn't use anymore.

The smith called it a _bomb_.

" _...victory through any means."_

 _BOOM!_

Shouts and wild cries fell out as the raging flames consumed the drenched orcs.

The Orc Lord wasn't fairing any better, the ninja wire held the oil tank secure to it, drenching itself and its comrades even more with oil and scattering the flames further as it thrashed about.

Monster Rex… It was impervious to his attacks, throughout the whole fight the most he could inflict on it were shallow wounds. Even his tanto couldn't pierce all the way through its tough flesh.

Merry was correct, he wouldn't be able to beat one. In an all out fight, any soldier would be hard-pressed to defeat such a creature.

Which was exactly why he didn't.

 _THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

The loud thumps of the Orc Lord resounded in the field as it screamed bloody murder along with its subordinates. The fire continuing to spread, burning them alive.

It's done. It's only a matter of time before they keeled over. Even from his position, far as he was, he could feel the intensity of the scorching heat emanating from the flames.

...

 _THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!_

 _..._

Something was wrong…

The temperature around them grew higher as the Orc Lord kept moving, closer and closer toward them. It's sluggish in its movements, at the verge of collapse — half of the flesh around its head had melted showing a bit of its skull but even still it kept moving.

Perhaps it was revenge, perhaps it was spite, but he knew what it wanted. It wanted to take him along with it to its grave.

" — ry… l-leave." His voice came out raspy, it's hard to breathe, it's a struggle to even form a sentence.

Naruto turned to Merry, he could hear her labored breaths as she continued to use her healing spell on his battered form. At her current state, she wouldn't be able to carry him, she's also at her limit. But she could still run, she could still save herself.

"Me-rry, m-move… you have… to m-move." It came out weak, almost silent, but he knew she heard him, yet she wouldn't budge an inch, continuing to pump her healing spell unto him.

There was a tight feeling in his chest, not just because of his wounds, but because of something else. It's the same thing he felt when he'd lost Hinata, when he'd first met Merry.

What was it again…? Sadness…?

"M-Merry, p-please." Naruto forced his voice to come out clearer. Slowly, ever so painfully, he moved his hand atop hers, taking a weak grip, attempting to pull it away.

He couldn't see her face as her head was down, her bangs shadowing her eyes.

"Y-you n-need to— "

"Shut up." Merry snapped, her voice was sharp. She'd spoken in the same voice she'd use when she's being stubborn, leaving no room for arguments. But still, this was her life. Just like Hinata, the thought of her dying...

"You're— "

"I said shut up and stay still, _i-idiot_." There's a slight waver in her voice, her hands were trembling just a bit.

…perhaps, this was how she felt too. Maybe, the thought of him dying… was something she also couldn't bare?

" — _I can't leave you alone." She looked at him with her lavender orbs, decision resolute._

He couldn't help but think… was this also how Hinata felt?

...Hinata… wait.

" _ **One time access to your chakra, no strings attached."**_

That's a dream… right? She couldn't be… but even still something, he needed to do something!

Naruto closed his eyes, focusing on his chakra core.

He could feel it, held back behind a dam, waiting to break free. All he needed was to open it.

By now the Orc Lord was just a few meters away from them. He could hear a few yells from Renji's party telling them to move away. Their mage peppering the Rex's back with Ice blasts.

Even if it was all a dream, even if he was to die after this, he had to —

" **Are you sure now's the time to use this, senpai~?"**

Her voice sent sudden shocks to his spine, before a wave of nausea overtook him and his head exploded with pain.

The heat was burning now, he could feel the wind shifting. He didn't need to see to know that the Orc Lord was plummeting down toward them.

Move.

Merry remained stubborn, unmoved as she continued to pour out the last of her reserves on him.

Move.

Renji's party gave alarming yells.

 **MOVE!**

He forced himself through the pain, opening his eyes just to see the hulking beast fall upon them.

 _CRASH!_

…

…

…

He's alive. Somehow he's alive, but the blinding pain in his head remained. Naruto gritted his teeth, opening his eyes.

Who...

There's a man in a hood, a warrior from the looks of the greatsword strapped on his back, with a single hand raised above him… holding back the full weight of the Orc Lord.

But Naruto's immediate concern was...

' _...Merry… where's…'_

Upon seeing her form, relief came upon him.

There she was just a few feet away from him, unconscious but breathing. She's fine. Merry's fine.

' _Merry's safe... Merry's safe...'_

A grunt was forced out of him as the pain in is head became unbearable. Slowly his vision began to darken. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was the mysterious individual hurling the Orc Lord's body to the side.

" **...Interesting."**

* * *

XXXX

* * *

 **Till next time.**


End file.
